On the Side: Assimilation
by Satire Swift
Summary: A collection of side stories, what if's, and omakes for my fic Assimilation.
1. What if: Contract 1-1

Here's a look at what this fic almost was:

=====C=====

How long had it been? At least a month or two since I came here, since I started 'working'. I have learned a lot in that time, much like how a dog learns what behaviors to adopt to make sure it doesn't get beaten. I suppose things could have been worse, but I didn't want to get comfortable with my lack of freedom, especially considering these 'Shadows' (god what a terrible name for an organization) could and would kill me if they thought I was being the slightest bit of a problem. I just had to be careful, bide my time, and find a way out.

Now if only I wasn't in some kind of Tibetan mountain fortress full of ninjas…

I pinched the bridge of my nose as I fought back the exhaustion, shaking my head as I refocused on the book in front of me. The table was littered with such tomes, which I had pulled off of the selves on the wall behind me. More tables littered the large square patterned room covered in beakers, materials, and random knickknacks. If you had asked me a few months ago I would have said it looked vaguely like an old fashioned scientist's lab.

Well, something something sufficiently advanced…

I got what I needed from the book before I leaned back, making a complicated gesture with my right hand and saying a foreign word. The book snapped shut of its own accord and a symbol on the front flashed with a blue light before it disappeared. I mirthlessly chuckled under my breath. _Behold, I now have the magic talent to emulate a street magician_ , I thought. Normally I would be more thrilled about learning magical skills. Hell, normally I would have been ecstatic about learning that magic was real at all.

But a lot of that excitement falls by the wayside when you find yourself trapped in an asshole's summoning circle after having stepped onto a subway car and

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W̷͇̮̟͇̬̯ͤͬ̓͛́e̷̛̳̼̼̤̣̘̻̞̱̯̠̥͎͊͐́͒͆ͣ͒͌͌ͫ͟͠ ̊̔̐̒͑̍̏́͜͞͏͠҉̙̩̮̥̠a̵̧̛̲̘̖̳͍͖̘̲͈̰̱̜̙̗̯̰ͥ͑ͥ̽̿̾͊ͤ̀͝ļ̴̮͈̻̰̮͔̭̩̳̖͗̉̀ͬ̂̾l̾͑ͤ̂ͪ͒̉͂ͯ͂̇҉͏̖̥̭̲̩̗̯̮͖̩͕̟͔̥͓͕͠ ̧̰̹̱̙̬̟͍͇̾̏̔͗ͧ͊ͯ̂̓̽͐ͤ͛͗́ḩ̵̯̦͇̼̝͔̞̜̠̻͈̩̣̩̹̻̥̟ͪ͆ͤ̓ͪ͑̌̇͑́͒̈́̓̄̄͟͞a̬͕͉͉̱̫͎̖̲͙̗̤͖̺͚̣ͧ̅̽ͣͯ̃̑̇͊ͮ̎ͫ̑ͯ͌̽ͫ́͜ͅv̂̄ͧͪ́͐ͨ̈̑ͤ̈̀̏̋̏͋͢͏͔̤̜͕͇̼̱̲̫̺͢eͦ̉̅ͭͪ̃̓̌͐ͭ̎̾ͭ̓ͣ̉̔͐ͯ͏̛̜͔̥̥͇̠̟̳̖̦͇̯̩̀ ̸̅̍̂͒̎ͤ̿ͥ͏̶͏͕͇̞͙͇͖͎̮͉̝͖̘͍̕tͩ̌͛ͦ̅͛̄̽̓҉̴̷̢̖̫̩̖̮͍͓̫̻̯̙̖́ȯ̵͔̺̱͚̙͚̤̗̤̣͖̬͔̻͈̫̝͚̗̃̈́ͪ̇̿̅̔̆̏̚̚̕͝͝ ̒͑̄ͭ̅̚҉̷̧̢̺͔͇͕̝̯d̶̷̵̬̱̣̼̯͉͕̱̦̮̟̻̞͔̉̃̿ͨ̒͋̆ͤ̈́̉͗̈ͨͦ̎͒͜͞ȍ̉͋̉̆ͦ̏͊̌͐̑ͤ̉ͯ͒́̚҉̦̗͙̰̻͓̫͝ ̵ͩ́ͧ͂͐̅͌̌͗̏͂͗̒̃͊͏͏̡̤̬͖̹̳̱̬͍͙͜t̒͌̉̔̓̽ͩ̉̇͌̎͌͗̀͂̓̎̋ͥ҉̷͏̶̱̯̬͉̣̩͈̪̼̱͕ͅͅḥ̴̷̨͙̹̜͎̜̰ͨ́́ͥ͑͊̃́̚͘i̦̼̹͔̭̹͕͉͈͈̳̝̲̱͕͕̓̀̑̔̏́̕͞͡ş̨͙͇̳͓̮̼͔̻͍̜̟̬͖͔ͦ͒ͯ́̂̊̓̍ͥ̓ͬ̕ ̨͗̉ͫͫ̄̅̓ͪͯ̄̇̐ͤ̎ͫ͐͌̐҉͔̦͓͇̪̳͔͉̹̤̹̹̭̭̼̬s̴̶̷ͯ̓ͯ͊ͭ̈́̈҉̸͓̙͚̹͚̹̖̦̫̼͕̠̜̜͙͓o̢̒͂̃͐͊ͬ̆͗̏ͭ̎͗̊͘҉͓͙͇͚̞̻̥̰͖͎ͅȍ̸̶̝̘̻̥͉͆̐ͣ͑͑̃ͪͩ̅ͮ͂̉͐̀ͩ̔ͦ̕n̢̜̼̲̳̟̘̯̺̖̳͈͆ͬ̽͂ͣͯͨͣ̃̂́͠e̛̪̗̦͚̜͇̹̙̻̘͎̟̩͈͕͎͖̽̍̂̊ͣ̏ͥ̾́̀͢r̶̢̒͛ͦ͘͏̳̳̦̠͈͓͇̰̮̠̫̣ ͑̊̔ͤ̈̈́̌́̅̉ͩͬ͒̀́ͣͬ҉̷̢͈͇̱̤̘͔͖̩̺͠͝ͅo̸̵͊ͩͮ͂̔͑̀̿̏͌̀̎͋͗ͪ̌ͨ̓ͦ̕҉͎̟͎͎̯̻̮r͌̉̏ͪͮ̆͘҉̹̱̜͞ ̸̧̨̭͚̞̭͉ͤͦ͗͜l̡̛͑̂ͣͬ͂̂ͥ̏҉̷̡̟̟̝͍̩a̶̶̞̭̖͍̬̫̹̫̩̞̼̲̪̅̓̄ͩ͌́͟͞t͆̅ͥ̑̃̈̐ͣ̂̑̄̐̔ͯ̈ͮ̃̅ͩ҉̸̜̘̝̞̪͕̹̞̘̟̪̯͈̹̺̀͡͞e̛̩̳̯͔͈̱̭̟̳͖̟̱̋ͦͯ͐̋̓͌͌ͧͨ͗̏̅͠r̰͈͖̗͚̞̦͇̪̯ͮͬ̂̊̎̇͐̇̉ͮ͆̎̄̊̄ͫ͌ͥ͜͜

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I flinched at the sudden headache, waiting for it to subside before I got back to work. _I never should have tried casting that damn memory spell_ , I thought. The event of my arrival was… confusing to say the least. Besides which, I needed to focus on finding a way out of being that prick's lab assistant/experiment. I know he wasn't exactly happy that I wasn't the whatever-the-hell he was actually trying to summon, but experimenting on me as a consolation prize was a dick move.

Absent mindedly I scratched my back, right near the top of the massive tattoo that covered the whole of it. The damn thing still itched, even though I had gotten it weeks ago. It was probably due to the thing being magical. Or maybe I was just imagining it. Either way it was how my 'Master' (whom I had mentally dubbed Schmitty) decided to control me to make sure I didn't get into trouble when he wasn't around. It didn't exactly rob me of my free will so much as give me debilitating pain anytime I did something he didn't like. He demonstrated this by ordering me not to eat for a few days and letting me find out what happened when I tried to disobey him.

It wasn't great.

Anyway, it turned out that having a means of control me was only the start of his plans for me. The control diagram was actually secondary to the main arcana inscription, a geometric diagram with six empty circles ringing around the outside. The sorcerer wasn't one to really explain things to his unpaid intern, but I managed to catch snippets of conversation between him and some of his colleagues. Turns out the spell was one he managed to acquire years ago from some ancient tomb or another, and he has spent a not inconsiderable time getting it to work. Its purpose was to connect to sources of power and channel them into the recipient, granting them powerful abilities. From what I had heard, this spell was meant to channel the power of gods.

But, Schmitty understandably didn't want to deal with divine entities just yet, so he found some other 'volunteers' to deal with the first round of testing. I glanced to the back of the room at the row of magic circles and what they held. At a glance they seemed to be glowing masses of energy and matter about the size of a person, from a rolling cloud of flames to a sifting mound of dirt, and so on. But I knew that these were elementals, just like out of the Monster Manual. They were… a bit weird, but I had spoken with them. Earth, fire, air, water, ice, and lightning. And none of them were too happy at their current circumstances.

Something we had in common.

I looked back at the table and pulled another book towards me, this one about the intricacies of arcane geometry. The spell inscribed on me wasn't quite complete. It needed one final ritual before the binding would be set and power would be channeled into me. As to the question of 'why would a sorcerer give such a potentially powerful spell to a slave rather than himself', I can only guess that the answer is something along the lines of 'because he's not sure if it will cause the recipient to explode on first use'. Besides, having a super soldier for a slave is the next best thing to turning into one yourself.

Needless to say, I had no plans of letting that happen. Every spare moment I had, every chance I could sneak, I studied the spell that had been inscribed onto my flesh. I learned every curve and line, I learned what it meant, I learned every bit of arcane trivia my 'Master' didn't want me to know. I was going to make sure that the ritual succeeded, and when it did, _I_ would be the one in control. And then I would get the hell out of there. And if that meant staying up all night-

I blinked as a line of light fell onto the book I was reading. I looked up and saw the first hints of dawn breaking over the mountains through a nearby window. "Ah crap, I stayed up all night," I muttered, looking around the mess I had made of the lab. I would have to clean this up before he sees this, but lucky for me I had plenty of time that day.

Schmitty had a fondness for drink, especially when he felt like he accomplished something. Last night there had been a big summoning ritual, similar to the one that had brought me here, and apparently it was far more successful than last time. He claimed that he summoned a 'demon mage', and would going to get to work 'breaking it in' tomorrow. That would be an extra week for me to prepare, and more immediately he would be drunk off his ass that night and hungover the next morning. As such, I had plenty of time to-

"Whelp! Just what in the hell do you think you are doing!?"

I spun as terror gripped me, and saw the man who had been making my life a hell for the past few months. His goatee rimmed mouth was set into a scowl, and his eyes smoldered as he started at me. They also noticeably were missing the dark bags they usually had after a night of revelry. "M-Master," I stuttered. "You're up rather early."

He huffed. "I turned in early. Can you believe that we are out of wine at a time like this? Utterly deplorable." His scowl returned. "Now, tell me what you are doing with those books."

"I-I uh was organizing them. For this day's work. I'll put them back-"

I didn't hear the word he spoke so much as felt it, and the next moment I was on the ground writhing in agony. I was dimly aware of the hem of his robes as he stepped over me to look at what I was studying. "Hmm, I see. You were trying to find a way to break your bindings." A sigh. "I should have known better than to give you so much freedom."

"M-master-"

"Silence, whelp!" he snapped. "I was in a foul enough mood already, and now I am going to have to spend more time putting an extra geas on you. Do you have any idea how valuable my time is?!"

As he screamed, he kicked me hard in the ribs as I tried to get up, sending me rolling across the floor. Through the haze of pain, I realized I was fucked. Regardless of whatever other compulsion he put on me, he'd be watching me much more closely from now on. I'd never get the chance I needed now. Not while he was there.

A half formed idea drifted through my mind, a contingency I hadn't dared tried. I was already compelled not to raise my hand against him, but that didn't mean I couldn't do other things. I shakily got to my hands and knees, and this time I waited for the next blow to hit. I rolled with it and pretended that it impacted with more force than it had, sending me careening into a workbench. I groaned as I hid my hand underneath me, tracing a specific part of the floor with my fingertips. As the man came over to stomp down on my back, I rolled away at the last second and his foot hit the floor.

There have been a number of small, menial tasks I had been assigned by the sorcerer since the start of my unexpected internship, but as time went on I started getting assigned more important jobs. One of which being securing the lab after we were done. Rather notably, Schmitty had been kinda of vague as to exactly _how_ I should secure things.

As such, considering he had technically ordered me to do so, it wasn't exactly my fault that he happened to step on the lightning trap I had set up in front of the alchemy station.

He screamed as electricity arched up his body, flashing so brightly that I had to look away. A second later a heard a thump and an ungodly smell reached my nose. As I staggered to my feet I turned back to look and found a smoldering body before me.

 _Holy shit, he's dead_ , I thought to myself. I stood there for a moment before I kicked the body as hard as I could. "Suck it, you sadistic moron!"

My revelry was short lived though, as I heard shouting coming from the open doorway some ways off. I considered my situation for a few seconds before I bolted to the door, slamming it shut and barring it. There was no way I was going to be able to talk my way out of having Schimitty's still smoldering corpse at my feet and still keep my head (even if it was his own stupid fault). Which meant that I was going to have to enact my escape now, a week before I was ready.

Step one: don't explode.

I barreled over to the materials and grabbed paint and a brush before hurrying to the space in front of the elementals. Once there, I began to paint, trying to shut out the shouting and banging on the other side of the door. My nerves were frayed as I simultaneously tried to hurry and not make a mistake, going line by ling, rune by rune until I was almost there. The diaphragm splayed out beneath me, the gaps yearning to be filled.

I got up and faced the entities which had been silent this whole time. "Elementals, I entreat with you again," I said rapidly as I bowed. "Do you remember what we have discussed?"

The water element let out a gurgle before it responded. " _We do. You proposed that we lend you our power through the inscribed spell to help to escape._ "

"And in exchange, I release you from your bindings." I confirmed. There wouldn't be time for anymore negotiations beyond what had already been done in secret. They only agreed to give me their power for my escape, so I'd have to make it count. "Unfortunately, it looks like I'll have to do it now or never. Do you agree to my terms?"

There was a moment of silence where the various beings shifted, their masses moving slightly faster than usual. I shifted nervously from foot to foot, the smashing on the door growing louder as they seemed to have found a battering ram. Eventually, they all refocused on me and said " _The bargain is accepted._ "

"Good." I moved to connect their circles with the one I had just made, linking them in as part of the array. "One the spell if complete, your containment will collapse and you'll be free to go." I finished and moved back to the center. "To seal the pact I will need to invoke your names."

" _We have none._ "

I froze mid-stride before I turned to the giant rock thing. "Wait, what do you mean you don't have names?!"

" _We have never needed them._ " It replied. " _Your 'names' are given to us._ "

I ran my fingers through hair in frustration. "Alright, so I just have to give you names, right? That will be good enough?"

" _Perhaps._ "

"Fine, whatever!" I yelled as I pointed at each of them, shouting the first thing that came to mind as I looked at them. "Sylph, Helios, Arc, Zephyr, Ardent, uh… Melchior!"

"… _Melchior_?" the ice elemental crackled.

"It has to fit a certain schema, and you try coming up with good names with a bunch of assassins knocking down the door!" I yelled as I wrote their names on the floor next to the connecting lines. When I was done I moved back to the center of the diagram I had made and I undid the top of my robe and let it fall, leaving me bare to the waist. I took a deep breath to center myself, and then I began to chant.

I don't know what language it was, other than that it was something long dead. The words rolled of my tongue with an unusual cadence, and as the incantation went on I felt a sort of tension fill the air. Every nerve in my body felt charged as the circle around me started to glow, the intensity picking up as went. My mind raced as I tried to keep the spell together in my head, desperately trying to build out the last part before I got to it.

I ran out of time just before I finished. The door to the lab smashed open, and I felt the last bit of the spell come together in my consciousness as I imaged the names of those I was entreating with. The names fused together, and in that instant I had the final word of the spell.

Perhaps, I could be forgiven for not piecing it together sooner. Being trapped in a sorcerer's lab and forced to be his slave narrows your focus a bit. And more immediately, having a squad of ninjas focuses it even more. But as the word passed through my lips and the spell finished, I had a moment of frozen clarity. Everything I had seen and done since I had come here flashed before my eyes, all the pieces falling into place around this one word. And when that knowledge of where I was, what power I was calling crystallized, the realization hit me like a-

Well, yeah.

" **SHAZAM!** "

Lighting slammed into me from above and I felt power surge into my body, consuming everything I knew in light, sound and fury. It only lasted for a moment though. When it cleared I was left standing in the middle of the lab, standing a good deal taller than I used to. My body was chiseled and reminiscent of worked stone, and sparks of electricity arced off me. The air around me shifted and flowed like a cloak, bits of flame and ice drifting in their currents.

I was aware of this, just as I was aware of the assortment of monks and ninjas picking themselves off the ground near the door. I was also vaguely aware of the elementals, now much smaller in size, drifting away before simply disappearing from sight. But all of those things were secondary to what I had just realized, and just how bullshit it was. I was in the DC universe.

"Huh."

The few ninjas near the front took this as their cue and rushed me, drawing their swords as they did so. I stepped forward and thrust out my palm, and a blast of wind tore out from me before slamming into the men coming at me, sending them flying back. The rest of the men started to spread out to try to flank me, but a sharp gesture with one hand sent a wall of ice ripping across the ground and blocking their passage. My other hand thrust out in a fist and a torrent of flame blocked the other side.

The knowledge of how to use my power flowed through the back of my mind, like something half-forgotten but still remembered by reflex. I was curious if all the motions I was making were actually necessary, or just me filling in the gaps with poorly mimicked Avatar moves, but then was not the time to dwell on it.

Before the men could regroup I charged forward, pulling water from the air and lashing at the men in front to knock them off balance. Some fell, some managed to dodge, but none were ready when I barreled into the front line. Lightning ran over my entire body as I struck wildly, hitting anyone who dared get close. There was no grace or skill in how I fought, and more than a few attacks from the ninjas managed hit me, but I didn't care. Pent up rage and stress from having spent months as a slave turned me into a whirlwind of destruction and violence, headless of the ones trying to stop me.

Things got a little blurred towards the end, but before I knew it I was breathing heavily in a room full of bodies. I didn't know how many were simply unconscious and how many were… it didn't matter, I had to get out of there.

I groaned as I clutched at my side where a particularly vicious sword blow had hit my kidney, and I knew there was going to be some heavy bruising later. _I have to be more careful, I'm not invulnerable_ , I thought. _And it's very well possible I might run out of power if I'm reckless. Shazam made this spell to work with gods, not moderately powerful elementals._ I quickly shoved down the thought of where I was to focus on more immediate things. I made a forceful gesture at a slab of stone kept in the corner of the lab, which broke apart and flew to me. In a few moments, I had some makeshift stone plating covering me, and I moved out.

The journey through the fortress was a quick one. I knew roughly where I wanted to go, and it wasn't like paltry things like doors or floors could stop me. A few random monks ended up in my way, but they weren't much of a problem. I didn't meet any more large groups, but they may have been busy what with all the fires I was starting as I ran. Soon enough, I ended up at the front doors to the fortress, a pair of massive wooden slabs. Now that I was close to the actual mountain though, that was even less of a problem. I lowered my stance before I took a step forward and thrust both of my fists out. A pair of thick earthen pillars ripped out of the ground next to me and smashed into the doors.

The entryway shattered from the force, and I felt a blast of cold wind hit my face as I got a clear view of the mountain pass leading down. _Alright, now what?_ I thought as I hesitated. If the contract held, I would probably lose my powers when I got a decent distance away from the fortress. I had wanted to arrange something with the supply convoys that came here regularly, find a space to hide on them, but best laid plans and all that. A short distance away I spotted a smaller building which was likely a sort of garage/supply building. If I was lucky, there would be some warm clothes and maybe a snowmobile in there. Without better options, I headed for the building-

-and immediately stopped as I bounced off a rippling barrier that formed on the threshold of the doorway. I blinked in confusion as I put my hand out, feeling the repulsion as the air wavered in front of me. I struck at the barrier to no effect. I blasted it with fire and lightning which dispersed harmlessly. I tried to destroy the threshold and dig underneath, but the barrier extended beneath the ground. I was trapped.

 _Well, now what the fuck do I do?! No one told me there was a goddamn magic barrier around this place!_ I apparently couldn't brute force the barrier, and I didn't have time to figure out how it worked! Did I have to beat up everyone in the stupid fortress if I wanted to get out of there? I mean, with my power up I suppose it wasn't impossible, but they only had to get lucky once. And besides, I was pretty sure I had only been facing jobber ninjas up until this point. There were bound to be at least a few around here who actually knew what they were doing. What I needed was someone with way more magic power and skill than me to get me through the barrier. But who the hell here would help-

I stopped as the though occurred to me. _No, that's insane and will probably get me killed._

I heard the shouting behind me get closer _. On the other hand, if I do nothing, I will most certainly be killed._

I hesitated for only a moment before I turned back into the burning fortress and started running to where I had first been summoned, the grand array at the very bottom of the fortress. "Fuck it, time for bad decisions!"

I was going to make a deal with the devil.

Well, a demon mage, but that's just semantics really.

It was another short journey down to the bottom of the fortress, which thankfully wasn't populated. The doors to the summoning chamber were also thankfully unsealed and I pushed my way in to the large chamber. The eight sided room was bare of furnishings, though the walls were covered in scripts and designs meant to aid in the channeling and focusing of arcane energy. Everything there was aesthetically designed to converge on a point in the center, which is where the summoning/containment circle was located.

The circle itself was an elaborate affair about 3 meters across, with glowing scrawl dense enough that it was hard to make out without kneeling next to it. Inside the circle was an opaque black dome, its surface occasionally rippling with energy. And unfortunately, obfuscating the occupant.

 _Shit_ , I thought to myself. I knew that bargaining with a demon was a terrible idea even if I had its freedom as leverage, but even worse was just setting it free and losing that bargaining chip all together. But if I couldn't speak with it, I couldn't do much else. "Hello?" I tried asking anyway, hopping that the barrier didn't block sound as well as sight. "You in the circle, can you hear me?"

I then got a sort of response, but it wasn't from the circle. The motion of the air behind me suddenly shifted, and I hurled myself to the side in time to avoid getting hit by several shuriken. "Ah, I was hoping to end this mess quickly…" a lightly accented voice said, and I turned to look just in time to see another ninja drop to the floor, but this one was different. His arms, legs and torso were lightly armored, small inscriptions glowing with a soft power. He did not wear a hood, revealing an older Asian man with graying hair.

Definitely not a jobber.

"I don't suppose I could convince you to simply surrender, could I?" He said as he smoothly drew his sword and got into a fighting stance. I couldn't help but notice the harsh red light the sword emitted.

"If I did, would I get to live?" I asked skeptically as I carefully stepped away from him.

"Probably not." He admitted. "But I promise it will be a much less painful if you give in right now."

I grit my teeth as my mind raced. Up until this point I had been relying on overwhelming power, but if I had to fight someone who had actual skill, that wasn't going to cut it. If I was going to beat this man I had to be smart. I had to come up with a plan. I needed to play this game with such cunning that my strategy would be sheer elegance in its draconian complexity.

Or I could just flip the board.

I stomped my foot into the ground, and a short pillar of earth shot up a short distance away.

Right through the edge of the containment circle.

The ninja stared at the rapidly failing magic circle before looking back at me. "Oh you son of a wh-"

There was a flash of light and the sound of glass shattering, and before I knew it I was tumbling back away from the circle. I quickly got my feet under me and settled into a guard stance, ready to deal with whatever hellspawn I had just unleashed on the Shadows. However, as the spots cleared from my eyes and I regained my vision, what I saw caused me to freeze. Getting to her feet in the middle of the fading circle was a young woman in a dark cloak, cut into thick strips and covering most of her body. As she turned her head to scan the room I caught sight of her ashen skin and sharp features. And more importantly, the small red gem in her forehead.

The Shadows hadn't captured a demon. Well, alright, she was a half-demon, but my point stood.

" _Azarath …_ " A pulse of power rippled away from her, the energy coalescing around her dark with a halo of white. " _Metrion…_ " She rose to the air, her cloak billowing out behind her in the vague impression of wings as the energy around began to grow and take form.

Rachel Roth roared as her aura finished taking the shape of a massive Raven. " _Zinthos!_ "

=====C=====

A/N: When thinking about making and SI for the DC universe, I had about 5 different ideas about how to approach it. Techno-Blacklight + Starfire won, but this was the runner up. Essentially, this version gives the SI an unbound version of the Great Wizard's spell, which means that if he wants any entity's power, he need to bargain for it. A lot of his power at any given time would depend on what beings he can contract and for what price. That said, the elemental crew would show up again later, and some pantheons would be interested in his services. He and Raven would go on and help make Young Justice Dark.

I will admit that this chapter isn't what I would actually put out if I was being serious about this (it's pretty much the second half of a real chapter). Still, a 'real' first chapter of Contract would be about twice as long and hit most of the same points as the first chapter of this fic, so I decided to just get the point across.


	2. Side Story: 7-1 - Girl Talk

Here's a little side scene from the beginning of chapter 7, to give some extra perspective.

=====A=====

"Alright, let's do this." Superboy said as he walked out into the sparring ring, the space lighting up in response. "Who wants to try first?"

At the edge of the ring, Wally stayed where he was and started unwrapping a burrito. "I'll take you on when I top off the tank." He said before taking a bite. "For now, someone else can be the opening act."

Standing next to the speedster, Kaldur stepped forward. "I am willing to be your opponent."

Superboy shrugged a little. "Alright, but you should know I've been itching to go all out for a while."

Standing on the other side of the ring, M'gann wondered if she should offer herself- err, offer to be his sparring partner. She still didn't think she was all that good at hand-to-hand yet, but she had been training quite a bit with her uncle and Jacob. _He did say that I have been improving a lot._ As if summoned by her thought, Jacob appeared from one of the adjacent hallways in a slow walk, his hand rubbing his chin in thought as he walked by the group. He was shaped in his most human-like form, appearing as a very tall and well-muscled human with grey skin and white hair.

Superboy managed to spot him as well and changed his mind. "Hold up. Hey Jacob, want to spar a few rounds?"

Jacob stopped mid stride and looked at Superboy, blinking owlishly for a few seconds. This was a rather common reaction from the man when you first addressed him. Jacob had the tendency to get lost in his own thoughts when left to his own devices (especially when left in the tech lab), but he got his wits about him fast enough. "Yeah, sure." He said as he stepped into the ring.

Superboy eyed him up and down. "You staying like that?"

"If it took you 4 hours and 43 minutes to look pretty you'd hesitate to do anything to mess that up too." Jacob said as he slipped into a traditional fighting stance. "I'll be fine like this."

"Alright, but I'm not holding back." Superboy said as he mirrored his opponent. "Just want to make sure we're on even footing."

"Well, you're not _that_ equal," Everyone looked towards Artemis, who had a glint in her eye. "I mean, Jacob's not weighed down by a shirt. He has a clear advantage."

Superboy looked at her for a moment before he looked back at Jacob. He then shrugged and pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it out of the arena. Artemis blinked before a grin split her face. "Y-you know, those jeans might also-"

"Mind out of the gutter, Artemis." Jacob said firmly before turning back to his partner. A second later the buzzer sounded and the two went at it.

M'gann wanted to chide Artemis for manipulating Superboy like that, but… _Oh who am I kidding?_ She thought to herself as she took in the sight of the two masculine forms pitting their strength against one another. Was… it weird for her to enjoy the human form that much? Being shapeshifters, Martians normally didn't put much emphasis on physical appearance when it came to attraction. Their bodies could be anything after all, so a good deal of selecting a mate came down to mental qualities (well, it was supposed to).

But, well, after watching so many episodes of _Hello Megan_ , M'gann just… kind of started seeing humans in that way. Was that normal? She didn't know, she didn't really have anyone back home to talk to about it. She never had any friends back on Mars, and she wasn't that close to her siblings. She loved her parents, but she didn't want them to think their daughter was 'strange' or 'abnormal'.

Well, she probably shouldn't worry about it. She looked human and acted human, so everyone here basically thought of her as one of them. So, there was nothing weird about it. Besides, Koriand'r was in much the same boat as she was, and the other girl was doing just fine. In fact she seemed to be having no problems at all. Even though she hadn't studied human culture and language for several years, or watched _Hello Megan_ over and over again until she was sure she had everything perfect. She just… showed up and fit in. Effortlessly.

M'gann shook her head and refocused on the sparring match in front of her. There were far better things to focus on at the moment rather than get lost in her own thoughts.

M'gann then felt a pair of arms wrap around her middle, and red hair fell around her as the Martian felt a chin rest on her head. "Superboy has the advantage with the restriction Jacob has placed on himself, but I wonder if Jacob can do more than he lets on?" Kori mused. "M'gann, you have trained with him, what do you think?"

 _Well, mostly trying not to_ , M'gann thought to herself, as she felt her face heat up a little. Koriand'r was friendly caring, confident, and all around the best friend that M'gann ever had. She was also _very_ affectionate at times, enough to put her off balance. "W-well, he has said that a good amount of his strength is based on his internal configuration. He might try something with that."

"I'm more interested in his 'external' configuration at the moment." Artemis said, eyeing the man in question as he wrestled out of Superboy's grip. "Why don't I see him like that more often?"

"As he said, it takes time for him to become 'sufficiently human'. Any less time spent and he occupies the valley of uncanniness." Kori said "And any significant shape shifting removes all of his progress as well. You have mostly been around him during missions or after he used shape shifting abilities."

Artemis gave the other girl an odd look before looking back at Jacob. She hesitated for a moment longer before she seemed to dismiss whatever she was thinking and looked back at the other two. "Alright, so, dish. What's going on with all of you?"

M'gann looked at the girl quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"Who's with who. I'm been trying to figure it out for over a week, but I've been getting all kind of mixed signals."

Kori shifted a little. "Well, obviously Jacob's with Superboy at the moment-"

"Wait, seriously?!" Artemis exclaimed before looked back at the two.

"No!" M'gann said before she pulled away from Kori to look at her. "She meant romantically, Kori."

"Oh! Well, in that case, no, none of us are 'with' one another at the moment."

"Ah…" the blond replied. "So- wait, 'at the moment'?"

Kori smiled. "It is not uncommon for teams of soldiers back on Tamaran to form tight bonds with one another, including romantic ones. I would not be surprised if something similar happened with this team."

"Sounds like you've already got a plan, girl." Artemis said as she cocked an eyebrow. "I mean, if you're looking for prospects, why not, say, Kaldur?" She gestured to the Atlantian standing some distance away. "Handsome, commanding… worth flirting with."

"He asked me not to." Kori replied, taking the other two by surprise before she continued. "He was not specific as to why, but I am certain he has no romantic interest in me."

"Huh. Well, maybe you're not his type." Artemis waved it off. "In any case, so long as we stay awesome, something'd going to happen sooner or later."

M'gann sighed and slumped a little, glancing back towards the ring. _That is was I'm hoping for,_ she thought as her eyes settled on the half-Kyptonian. Superboy… could be abrasive and distant sometimes, but she knew that meant he was sweet and caring deep down. She just wished she knew how to bring it out. She wasn't expecting it to happen instantly (it wasn't till the final episode of _Hello Megan_ that Megan and Connor finally kissed), but she had no idea if she was making progress or not. A thought occurred to her and she felt a small warmth in her chest. _If this were the show and Megan were fretting, Connor would probably just smile at her and say something like 'I know you're awesome, Megan. You just need to show it to everyone.'_

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she felt a hand cup her chin, and her head turned to she Kori smiling at her. "I know you are awesome, M'gann. You just need to show it to everyone."

M'gann quickly looked away as she blushed a very deep shade of green. That- that- that was confusing. And a silly coincidence. She focused on Superboy pushing Jacob towards the edge of the ring and that was very much the last she thought about it.

Meanwhile, Artemis's mouth quirked as she looked at the two girls before she said "So… are you… you know?"

Kori tilted her head. "I am afraid I do not know."

The other girl sighed. "I mean… do you enjoy the company of women?"

"Of course I do. Who doesn't?" Kori said, furrowing her brow.

"No I mean-"

M'gann spoke loudly before the blonde could finish, _really_ not wanting to go down that road at the moment. "What about Jacob?"

Artemis blinked at that before looking at the man in question. "Him? Nah, he's more like a big-" The girl stopped short and was silent for a long. "Um," she said before looking at Kori. "What do you think?"

Kori hesitated a little, and when she spoke her tone was uncertain. "Jacob… is still adjusting to his condition and circumstances. If you have an interest you can certainly ask, but I am not sure how he will respond."

This seemed to placate Artemis, but M'gann looked at her friend curiously. _Just what does that mean?_ she wondered. The Martian was observant enough to see that there was _something_ between Jacob and Kori, even if she wasn't quite sure what. Even when the two had first arrived they seemed to have a connection of sorts, and given how she would poke her head in to his lab frequently, and the way he managed to calm her down a few nights ago showed they cared about each other. And yet… it was strange to see Kori look that uncertain. Were things more complicated than they looked?

In the end, M'gann settled into Kori's hug and watched the match, resolving to see if she could help things along in regards to the other girl and Jacob. If nothing else, it might make things a little less confusing for her.

=====A=====


	3. Omake: Hi There!

Jacob: Kori... What's that in the middle of your forehead? Because it better not be what I think it is.

Star SapphFire: I was in Coast City and there was this unpleasant woman bothering Lantern Jordan, so I headbutted her! And it stuck to me!

Jacob: You need to take it off, the thing's going to drive you crazy.

Star SapphFire: That's what Lantern Jordan said too, but I don't see the problem. I feel perfectly normal. Also Jacob, have I told you that I love you?

Jacob: That's the sapphire talking, Kori.

Star SapphFire: No, it's true! I love you the most! Except for M'gann. I love her the most! Except for Superboy and Diana. I love them the most too! Until I find someone else who I love even more the most!

Jacob: Why does this behavior seem oddly familiar for some reason... Wait, where are you going, get back here!

Star SapphFire: Hi there random citizen! My name is Koriand'r! I have just met you, and I love you!


	4. What if: Hypernova 1-1

Here's my second runner up for what this fic could have been.

=====H=====

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Blah blah blah, on my way to work, blah blah blah, getting into the subway, blah blah, W̷͇̮̟͇̬̯ͤͬ̓͛́e̷̛̳̼̼̤̣̘̻̞̱̯̠̥͎͊͐́͒͆ͣ͒͌͌ͫ͟͠ ̊̔̐̒͑̍̏́͜͞͏͠҉̙̩̮̥̠a̵̧̛̲̘̖̳͍͖̘̲͈̰̱̜̙̗̯̰ͥ͑ͥ̽̿̾͊ͤ̀͝ļ̴̮͈̻̰̮͔̭̩̳̖͗̉̀ͬ̂̾l̾͑ͤ̂ͪ͒̉͂ͯ͂̇҉͏̖̥̭̲̩̗̯̮͖̩͕̟͔̥͓͕͠ ̧̰̹̱̙̬̟͍͇̾̏̔͗ͧ͊ͯ̂̓̽͐ͤ͛͗́ḩ̵̯̦͇̼̝͔̞̜̠̻͈̩̣̩̹̻̥̟ͪ͆ͤ̓ͪ͑̌̇͑́͒̈́̓̄̄͟͞a̬͕͉͉̱̫͎̖̲͙̗̤͖̺͚̣ͧ̅̽ͣͯ̃̑̇͊ͮ̎ͫ̑ͯ͌̽ͫ́͜ͅv̂̄ͧͪ́͐ͨ̈̑ͤ̈̀̏̋̏͋͢͏͔̤̜͕͇̼̱̲̫̺͢eͦ̉̅ͭͪ̃̓̌͐ͭ̎̾ͭ̓ͣ̉̔͐ͯ͏̛̜͔̥̥͇̠̟̳̖̦͇̯̩̀ ̸̅̍̂͒̎ͤ̿ͥ͏̶͏͕͇̞͙͇͖͎̮͉̝͖̘͍̕tͩ̌͛ͦ̅͛̄̽̓҉̴̷̢̖̫̩̖̮͍͓̫̻̯̙̖́ȯ̵͔̺̱͚̙͚̤̗̤̣͖̬͔̻͈̫̝͚̗̃̈́ͪ̇̿̅̔̆̏̚̚̕͝͝ ̒͑̄ͭ̅̚҉̷̧̢̺͔͇͕̝̯d̶̷̵̬̱̣̼̯͉͕̱̦̮̟̻̞͔̉̃̿ͨ̒͋̆ͤ̈́̉͗̈ͨͦ̎͒͜͞ȍ̉͋̉̆ͦ̏͊̌͐̑ͤ̉ͯ͒́̚҉̦̗͙̰̻͓̫͝ ̵ͩ́ͧ͂͐̅͌̌͗̏͂͗̒̃͊͏͏̡̤̬͖̹̳̱̬͍͙͜t̒͌̉̔̓̽ͩ̉̇͌̎͌͗̀͂̓̎̋ͥ҉̷͏̶̱̯̬͉̣̩͈̪̼̱͕ͅͅḥ̴̷̨͙̹̜͎̜̰ͨ́́ͥ͑͊̃́̚͘i̦̼̹͔̭̹͕͉͈͈̳̝̲̱͕͕̓̀̑̔̏́̕͞͡ş̨͙͇̳͓̮̼͔̻͍̜̟̬͖͔ͦ͒ͯ́̂̊̓̍ͥ̓ͬ̕ ̨͗̉ͫͫ̄̅̓ͪͯ̄̇̐ͤ̎ͫ͐͌̐҉͔̦͓͇̪̳͔͉̹̤̹̹̭̭̼̬s̴̶̷ͯ̓ͯ͊ͭ̈́̈҉̸͓̙͚̹͚̹̖̦̫̼͕̠̜̜͙͓o̢̒͂̃͐͊ͬ̆͗̏ͭ̎͗̊͘҉͓͙͇͚̞̻̥̰͖͎ͅȍ̸̶̝̘̻̥͉͆̐ͣ͑͑̃ͪͩ̅ͮ͂̉͐̀ͩ̔ͦ̕n̢̜̼̲̳̟̘̯̺̖̳͈͆ͬ̽͂ͣͯͨͣ̃̂́͠e̛̪̗̦͚̜͇̹̙̻̘͎̟̩͈͕͎͖̽̍̂̊ͣ̏ͥ̾́̀͢r̶̢̒͛ͦ͘͏̳̳̦̠͈͓͇̰̮̠̫̣ ͑̊̔ͤ̈̈́̌́̅̉ͩͬ͒̀́ͣͬ҉̷̢͈͇̱̤̘͔͖̩̺͠͝ͅo̸̵͊ͩͮ͂̔͑̀̿̏͌̀̎͋͗ͪ̌ͨ̓ͦ̕҉͎̟͎͎̯̻̮r͌̉̏ͪͮ̆͘҉̹̱̜͞ ̸̧̨̭͚̞̭͉ͤͦ͗͜l̡̛͑̂ͣͬ͂̂ͥ̏҉̷̡̟̟̝͍̩a̶̶̞̭̖͍̬̫̹̫̩̞̼̲̪̅̓̄ͩ͌́͟͞t͆̅ͥ̑̃̈̐ͣ̂̑̄̐̔ͯ̈ͮ̃̅ͩ҉̸̜̘̝̞̪͕̹̞̘̟̪̯͈̹̺̀͡͞e̛̩̳̯͔͈̱̭̟̳͖̟̱̋ͦͯ͐̋̓͌͌ͧͨ͗̏̅͠r̰͈͖̗͚̞̦͇̪̯ͮͬ̂̊̎̇͐̇̉ͮ͆̎̄̊̄ͫ͌ͥ͜͜-

.

.

Look, we all know where this is going. How many times have you read a story about an average guy going about average things and that was it? You people probably don't even need any context for this. So let's just dive right into it, shall we?

"Tell me where the fucking tin-can Bishop is or I turn his brain into Lucky Charm marshmallows!" I screamed as I griped the back of the man's head, the rest of the soldiers warily pointing their guns at me as the room burned.

…fine, I'll give you some stupid context. But I'm making it quick.

So, as you might have guessed, I was torn out of my perfectly normal life and thrust into a world of adventure and excitement. Well, ok, at first it was less that and more 'experimentation and light torture'. Because hey, when you're an organization that's trying to turn people into living weapons and your experimental teleporter ends up conjuring a person that doesn't exist in your world, waste not want not right? I mean, with a name like Checkmate certain things are expected after all.

Yes, _that_ Checkmate. Have to admit, a lot of my excitement at being in the DC universe was tempered by the loss of everything I once knew along with my freedom. But hey, at least that second's one was temporary! For you see, the context for that little bit of In Medias Res you saw earlier was part of my escape. And to do this right, let's start this with how I met my second partner.

I don't like to talk about the first.

I tumbled roughly to floor of my cell, partially because I had just been tossed into it. Though I wasn't in best shape either. Their tests always took a lot out of me. And put some other stuff in. I groaned as I rolled around on the floor. "You know Bob, you could at least aim for the bed." I said as I glared at the guard who brought me to my cozy little 10' by 5' concrete room.

The man was dressed in tactical gear, but that didn't do much to hide the gut he was developing, or the sneer on his face as he looked at me. "Or maybe I could get you some newspaper clippings you could curl up on, lab rat."

No, Bob wasn't my second partner (or the first). Thankfully.

A mirthless laugh managed to escape my throat. "Oh, you're in a good mood today. Tell me, is it because you don't have to put up with Steve's shit anymore?"

The man's sneer turned into a scowl. "The fuck would you know about that?"

Unbidden images flickered through my head. _Running missions in the desert, a military court, making snide remarks, a woman laughing as the two-_

I managed to push the images away. "Oh, you pick things up…Soggy."

In a blink the man was on top of me, fury in his eyes and his hand around my throat. I flailed as his fist drew back, but I managed to choke out. "W-wait! You can't damage me too much! The higher ups haven't finished using me yet! An-and besides, you're not really mad at me. I bet you've suspected for a while now."

"Suspected. What?" The man ground out.

I lowered my voice. "…You notice how your wife's been showing off some real nice jewelry lately?"

The man's face contorted through several levels of rage before he let out a scream and got to his feet, giving my ribs a kick before he stormed out of the cell. The heavy steel door slammed shut and I was left alone.

I awkwardly crawled to my bed and pulled myself up on to it, settling into a sitting position with my back to the wall. I tried to lean my head back, but it hit an exposed pipe that was running along the concrete. I winced in pain before I more gently rested my head against it. I knew I probably wasn't accomplishing much by taunting the guy so much, but it was one of the few things I could do to relieve stress. I had been stuck in that underground base for what must have been months, and it felt like I was starting to go insane.

Well, I was pretty sure I _was_ going insane, bit by bit. Checkmate keep partnering me up with their own security personnel, trying to find someone who could take control of me, take control of the thing the Professor had created. But it never worked. I always stayed in control. And the ones they forced the connection with… lost bits of themselves. Made them catatonic. And I kept the pieces, tumbling around in my head.

If only that first escape had worked. If only the Professor hadn't-

I banged my head back against the pipe in frustration.

I few seconds later, I felt the pipe vibrate twice in return.

I frowned and lifted my head up, turning to look at the pipe. After a pause, I knocked on the pipe twice. Faster than last time, I got two pulses back. I tried again with three knocks, and got three back. I tapped out a rhythm. _Shave and a haircut…_

I arched an eyebrow as it came back. _Two bits._

The conversation continued quickly, the two of us thankfully knowing Morse code (I… managed to pick it up). Apparently the pipe ran through another prisoner's cell, and the two of us had a lot in common. Well, enough in common. We both wanted the fuck out of there.

I asked for a name. I got one. I grinned.

It was a week before I had another test, but that was fine. Every moment I wasn't been watched I communicated with my fellow prisoner, and we hatched a plan. A way to get out. It was a little rushed, but it required a few specific things to be in place. And it just so happened that today was the day that everything lined up.

As Bob shoved me in to the laboratory, I took stock and noted that it was much the same as how I saw it the last time. There were a number of steel tables covered in computers and equipment and beakers full of some kind of liquid science or another. A few techno-pylons ringed the room, and I honestly couldn't tell if they did something or where just decoration. The main feature of the room was a large glass chamber in the back, with a number of high tech devices lining the base and top. I was rather familiar with it by this point.

I was also familiar with the man in the lab coat with his back to me, fiddling with some kind of scanning device or another. However, I couldn't help but notice that someone was missing. "Hey Schimitty, Where's the C3PO knock off?" I asked.

The man didn't turn, but he did let out a tired sigh as he responded. "Bishop DeVoe has more important matters to attend to today. I will be taking charge of this round of testing." He then looked at me, his bearded face set to one of exasperation. "And I told you to stop calling me that."

"And I told you to stop violating my rights as a human being, but it looks like neither of us are getting what we want." I shot back cheerfully.

The scientist rolled his eyes. "You are not a citizen of any nation on this planet, you have no rights. Besides, you have a place to sleep and 3 meals a day. That's better than a good amount out the human population. Really, we're working for the betterment of humankind down here."

 _Screams, burning, beatings, a hundred small cruelties-_

"…Truly your humanitarian spirit knows no bounds." I managed to grind out. I then glanced around the mostly empty lab, and the two guards standing in the hallway outside. "Bit of a skeleton crew today. We don't even seem to have the latest victim- I mean, volunteer. Oh, is it going to be you this time?"

Schimitty pressed his mouth thin. "Hardly. I just brought you here earlier so that I could run a few tests first. You're next partner will be along shortly. I do hope you can behave yourself for a couple of minutes."

Normally I was have been irritated and wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. Today it was fine though, because for the first time in weeks, I had a purpose. I had a plan. And I all hinged on Bob. I had been poking and prodding the man all week, learning the way he thought and his tells. I was going to manipulate him to escape. And it all started with-

"Whelp I'm outta here. Later you little shit." Bob said as he turned to leave.

I blinked and looked at him. "Wait, what?"

He glanced back as he walked out the door. "It's the playoffs tonight. Michaels gets to babysit you for today." As he said this, another guard walked into the room past him, slightly shorter and slimmer with close cropped hair. He gave Bob a nod and silently took position. And without any preamble Bob just walked out.

I stared at the man while I started panicking internally. My entire plan revolved around Bob! Without him I had nothing. _Alright, stop panicking, I just need to come up with something new. I can adapt this, I have the smarts, and I can come up with an even better plan in no time._

I ended up staying perfectly still for about thirty seconds before I pointed out into the hallway. "Ooo, sexy lady scientist in a miniskirt." Michaels turned his head to look, and I grabbed the nearest beaker full of science juice off the table next to me and threw it. By the time he looked back it slammed into his face.

Don't look at me like that, I'd like to see you do better.

The man screamed as the greenish substance on his face sizzled and steamed, and as he grabbed his face I sprinted forward. Everyone started shouting, but I tuned them out, focusing on the guard as I cleared the distance. As I reached him, muscles born of several months of prison workouts propelled my fist into his throat, causing him to stagger back. While he was stunned I grabbed the pistol holstered at his hip and fired it into his chest. As he went down I spun to the open doors and fired several more rounds, sending the surprised guards moving for cover back in the hallway. I surged forward again and slammed the doors shut, before moving next to the techno-pylon near to the door and shoving it over. The large pillar of metal and electronics smashed into the ground in front of the doors, forming a barricade that refused to give even as the guards outside pounded on it.

I let out a shuttering breath as I got my nerves back under control. I then heard a noise behind me, prompting me to spin and fire a bullet out of reflex. Thankfully I managed to miss Schimitty, who dropped to the ground with a scream and curled up in a fetal position. I snorted and walked over to the cowering scientist. "So, Schimitty," I said as I crouched down next to him, pistol not quite pointed at him. "Where's the stabilizer?"

"W-what? I d-don't know what you're-"

"I don't have time for the whole 'I know you know' game, so let's just lay our cards on the table, shall we?" I groused. "Now, we both know that Checkmate wouldn't have thrown away the late Professor's work if they had bothered keeping me around. And we both definitely know that your bosses are looking for any sort of way to make these sorts of experiments actually work out for my 'partners' that didn't end in braindead meat bags. Now, the scuttlebutt is that much of the old Professor's work went up in flames during the last fiasco. However, I know that you've managed to salvage the stabilizer in your off time in order to get ahead of the competition."

The man looked shocked. "How do you know-?!"

"Steve was on to you. That's why you planted contraband in his locker to get him shitcanned and 'volunteered' for testing. Because he suspected." I tapped the sign of my head. "And let's just say I've been having some trouble getting him, and a few others, out of my head lately. Now, please don't make me ask again."

Schimitty whimpered for a moment before he scrambled to a large metal locker in the corner. His hands fumbled at the keypad on the front, but after a few seconds he managed to get it open, and he quickly grabbed a box inside. _Well, that's convenient_ , I thought to myself as he hurried over and handed the box to me. I gestured with the gun in my hand and he all too happily scampered away from me as I took what I was looking for out of the box.

The stabilizer was rather minimalist. All it really consisted of was a harness with a large disc that covered the left breast, with three smaller discs connected by lines extending outwards. I didn't see any kind of switch or control, so I had to hope that it was automatic. It only took a few seconds to affix it. _Now the tricky part_ , I thought as I readied the mental trigger I had been building in my head for the past few months. I had never managed to make this work solo, but it had to be possible. Because if it wasn't this was the last chance I was going to get.

I closed my eyes and focused, grabbing hold of that burning in my chest that hadn't truly left me since that first time. In my mind, I cleared everything save the image of a single atom. Then, I had two atoms. Then four. Then eight. Then sixteen. Then-

Over and over I doubled the number of atoms in my mind, each time the burring in my chest grew hotter and hotter. My concentration threatened to slip, but I pushed through it. It felt like I was on fire as I doubled the atoms one last time, my world being nothing but mater and energy. Critical mass was reached, and the atoms fused.

I screamed as fire exploded out from me, blasting everything away and knocking tables and equipment to the ground. It only lasted for an instant before it subsided, and when the flames cleared I had changed. I was standing a litter straighter, my musculature was a little more pronounced, and my eyes were completely white. Also, my head was on fire.

Looked like it _was_ possible to solo the Firestorm Matrix.

I didn't have long to get used to it though, as a second later the doors to the lab exploded inward from a detonation charge, and about half a dozen soldiers in full tactical gear swarmed in. The gun in my hand had melted from the transformation, but I had other tools to work with now. Just before they pulled the triggers, I reached down towards the steel table at my feet. My hand glowed orange-yellow and I _pulled_ it up upwards. The atoms flowed at my touch and formed a hemisphere shield of metal in front of me.

Bullets pinged off the improvised shield as the soldiers fired on full auto. I didn't want to give them the time to flank me, so I held my hands out and focused on that heat I felt in my chest. My hands filled with nuclear fire, and with a scream I thrust it at the metal shield. It exploded outwards, searing hot pieces of metal shooting out in in an arch in front of me. The gunfire cut off as the shrapnel hit the soldiers, knocking them down and setting some of their gear on fire. However, it looked like their armor was the good stuff, as some of them were trying to get back on their feet.

"And for my next trick, I'll turn your guns into pudding!" I yelled as I extended my hand towards them. An orange-red sphere with atomic rings formed around my hand, and in turn several more formed around their weapons. As their guns quickly glowed brighter and brighter, a thought occurred to me. "Wait, what the chemical composition of pud-"

The explosion propelled me backwards and embedded me in the opposite wall. It took a few seconds for my vision to clear and see what was left of my work. Which was mostly just a large crater and giant missing section of the wall where the door used to be.

I wrenched myself out of the indentation I made and stumbled forward, stopping at the edge of the crater and staring nonplussed at the still smoking boots of the response team. _Why does my front feel like it's facing a warm fire- oh, gamma rays_. I thought _. Good thing I'm immune to those now. Still, I should lay off on nuclear transmutation until I know what I'm doing._

With a bit of effort I took off into the air and flew out of the room and down the corridor, only pin-balling off the walls slightly. I could try flying straight up and making my escape by burrowing through the rock above me, but I had a few reasons not to try that. One of which being I wasn't sure how long I could hold my current form, or what constantly using my powers would do to that time limit.

Besides, I also had a promise to keep.

I didn't have the best mental layout of the base, but I had ended up being led through the winding corridors a number of times. I also had the jumbled memories of the last twelve or so people they had tried partnering me up with. As such, I had a general idea of where I needed to go. The alarms were blaring as I flew through the hallways, but I was moving fast enough that no one was able to catch up with me. I warded off the few random guards that came across me with fire blasts, and soon enough I reached my destination. Ok, I reached the wall that was between me and my destination, but one application of rapidly oxidizing the metal wall later and the difference was mostly semantic.

The Central Computer Core was a large dome shaped room that was mostly bare save for a number of metal crates scattered about the floor, and several terminals lining the walls. The room I was in was actually the main terminal room, whereas the computer core itself was below. The massive pillar of electronics was visible through the tempered glass floor. There were a few lab techs in the room who looked shocked at my sudden entrance, but most of my attention was drawn to the pair of automated gun turrets that dropped from the ceiling and spun towards me.

I growled as I formed a plasma shield in front of me. Each bullet that hit cause the shield to flicker, and I felt my grasp on the heat inside me start to slip. _No, come on, hold it together…_ With a force of effort I spared one hand to blast the two turrets to bits. The lab techs bolted for the hole I made, and I simply stood there and caught my breath. After everyone had fled. I moved some crates to fill up the hole I had made. The only other way in was a pair of large, heavy metal doors, and I quickly secured those as well.

 _Ok, gotta force a system restart_ , I thought as I moved over to one of the terminals. I tried to navigate the system interface, but it quickly became clear that I had no idea how to access administrator functions. None of the associated memories tumbling around in my skull knew anything about the computer system. After some bumbling around I ended up locking myself out accidentally. _Fuck it, going to have to improvise_ , I thought as I pulled back to the center of the room. I racked my brain for a moment before an idea occurred to me. I wasn't sure if I could pull it off, but given my lack of options…

I brought my hands together, a ball of nuclear fire forming between them. "Flash with no fire, flash with no fire," I intoned to myself as I focused on the electric charge that was building in the ball. Fire surged out of the sphere, but I forced it to hold together, building the charge higher and higher. I grit my teeth and focused as hard as I could, holding on until my control almost slipped away from me. Just before that happened, I clapped my hands together.

The electromagnetic pulse ripped outwards from me, and an instant later everything went dark. I collapsed to my knees from the strain. For a solid minute I didn't move, my heavy breathing the only noise resonating through the dark room. Then I felt a rumble shake the entire base, and the lights came back on as the secondary generators came to life.

The two dozen men surrounding me raised their weapons.

I blinked. "Uhh…" I said, wonder how they managed to sneak up on me. "Guess I tripped over the power cord?"

One went to raise his radio to call out something, but I didn't give him the chance. Fire exploded outwards from me as I took to the air, and everyone opened fire at once. Things devolved into a blur of flames, bullets, and missiles, with that rumbling that echoed through the base getting louder and louder. Even in my haze I knew I wasn't getting out of this, that I needed more time. The first chance I got I swooped down and grabbed one of the soldiers, hauling him into the air with me. "Tell me where the fucking tin-can Bishop is or I turn his brain into Lucky Charm marshmallows!" I screamed as I griped the back of the man's head, the rest of the soldiers warily pointing their guns at me as the room burned.

Oh hey, we've caught up.

"Right here."

I spun in the air just in time to see it. Standing in front of the massive double doors was an android, its body in the shape of a cobalt, low polygon human and a face to match. And in its hands a long, chrome, high tech rife that fired a sparkling white beam at my chest.

The beam hit me and I screamed, everything suddenly going _cold_. I barely felt myself hitting the ground, but by the time my sense came back to me I knew the flames on my body had gone out. That was one of the other reasons I didn't just try to blast my way out; Nuclear Suppressor Emitters. The same thing they hit me and Professor Stein with the last time we tried to escape. And if only they hadn't done it while we were flying over a pile of jagged debris at the time, he might still be here. I had managed to fall to the side, but he had not been so lucky. One piece through the neck was all it took.

I half roll, half dodged to the side behind some large crates, grabbing a rocket launcher that had been lying next to a downed soldier. I popped up and pointed the weapon at the tin-can, but I didn't fire it. At that moment about a dozen soldiers had their guns pointed at my position. I could take the robotic asshole out, but I wanted to live through this.

It then spoke, letting out a synthetic hum before it said "I am both impressed and disappointed, RX-42. I had been lead to believe it was not possible for a single entity to control the Firestorm Matrix, yet here we are. Now if only you could have been a bit more obedient…"

Despite the situation, I managed a laugh. "DeVoe, I've seen how you treat your employees. I've still got a few bits and pieces of them rattling around in my skull. You might want to work on your health care plan before you try making another pitch."

The android went to say something, but the base shook again. "Can someone find out what that damn shaking is?" He said with a frown before he looked back at me. "You know, I could have tried extracting the Matrix from you first thing. I'd like to think the fact that I looked for alternates means I care a little about your health."

I snorted. "If you had thought there was the slightest chance that it wouldn't have damaged or destroyed the Matrix, you would have done it already."

It looked at me flatly for a moment before it let out a theatrical sigh. "I suppose so. I guess it is time to cut my losses then." It started to raise it hand.

In panic I yelled "You know why I didn't destroy the computer core?"

It stopped, its eyes narrowing at me. "I am not sure why you would want to in the first place. It would not free you from this base."

"No, it would cause everything to go into lockdown." I confirmed. "Which is why I got it to restart instead." The base rumbled again, this time even louder. "Sure, doesn't make much of a difference if I was trying to get out, but a full system reset does shut down any subsystems in use."

The door behind the android suddenly buckle inward a bit, and I grinned. "Like the Metahuman Control Collar system."

The androids eyes widened and it opened its mouth to shout a command. That was as far as it got before the door behind him burst open, flying across the room and smashing into the far wall with a crash. It just had time to turn around before a massive earthen hand bigger than it was reached out from the darkness and grabbed him. There was a crunch, and that was it.

This was promptly followed by a hail of stones shooting out of the darkness and pelting the remaining soldiers hard enough I heard bones crack. In a matter of seconds everyone besides me was down, dead, or dying. And a few seconds after that my cavalry walked through the open doorway.

A young woman with long blond hair stepped into the room, her eyes and hands glowing yellow with power and a number of smaller stones orbiting her quickly. She wore a jumpsuit like mine, though hers were more tattered and a little bloody, and she had discarded her shoes entirely. She came to a stop a short distance from me and for a long moment we just looked at each other.

"So…" Tara Markov drawled as she glanced around, still glowing hand settling on her hip before she refocused on me. "Wanna fuck this place up?"

I hefted the rocket launcher with a grin. "Do I?!"

And that was the start of something beautiful.

=====H=====

A/N: Hypernova would be a lot less serous in tone compared to Assimilation or Contract. As in, I would be writing it so that Firestorm, Terra and crew bumbled into the weirdest stuff in the DC universe (Things like Snowflame, Top, Kiteman(Hell Yeah!), Cluemaster and his band of murderous midgets, ect.). Basically, I still really want to write DC Nextwave.

Also, this may be a conversation Jacob and Tara have about recruiting new members:

Jacob: "Ok, we've got fire and earth down, but we need more versatility. I think we should find an air guy, and probably a water guy too. To round things off we'll want some utility, so how about a psychic-"  
Tara: "Jacob, is this all leading up to us forming the Planeteers to you can fuse all of us into the Firestorm Matrix and become Captain Planet?"  
Jacob: "...it might _not_ be."  
Tara: "No."


	5. What if: Supercharge 1-1

Here's runner up number three.

=====S=====

I checked my phone before I walked down the steps into the subway, couldn't get a signal down there after all, and found an email telling me that the project wasn't compiling as of last night, and they were trying to figure out what was responsible. I wasn't too worried as we had plenty of ways to revert the project to a working state, but I didn't like how close this was happening to release of the next patch. Three days of planning, six weeks of coding, one week of testing, and to top it off the tradition twenty four hours of panic before release, I thought to myself as I sent a brief reply before entering the subway.

.

.

Lucky for me I was just in time to catch the train pulling into the station, and as I checked my phone one last time before I lost the signal I stepped onto the train ev͕̜̘͖͙͍̦̏ͣͯ̋̑͐̾̇̚͡e̱͓͑̀ͨ͋̚͝r̵̟̙͎̯̲͔͐͛ͨy̢̤̱͓ͤ͛̕t͇̮̫͔ͥͧ̄̑̿̆h̾̊̋͋̋͏̵̡͉͇̞̩̮i̮̳̙̙͇̖̫̖ͬͨ̎́͋ͤ̆n̹̣̙͂͛̒ͬ̅̈͠ġ̜͓̣͙̟̙̘̰̏̇ͧͣ ̣̗̯̘̹͇͈͊͛w̟͎̙̱̖̏̔̇̑̓͢a͈͎͓͖̱͇ͤ͂ͬ̾̈́̓͐̉ͅs̸̷̡̱̪͙̞̩͓̲͛ͪͦ͒̊ ̷̗̻͌̒͐n̢͗̉́́̓̚͜҉̣̞o̵̳̼̼͈̓͌̍t̖̳̘̘̳̻̖̼̺ͨͭ̃͌̅̿̊̀h͎̜͔̿̂͡i̯̜ͩ͟ṉ̢̟̻̹͔̰ͨ́̒ͥ̇̅̽͜ĝ̸̗͚̗͉̩̻͈͎̀̑̒̆̍͜ ͥ̀҉̯̗̹̜͖̱̳̠͕̕a̴̛͉͈̣̪̓̏̊ͪ̉̀ͥ͛͢nͧ̈̒ͪ̍̽̈͏̠̝͚͘͝d̮̬͓̲͇͇͙ͫ̾͐̇ ̟̣͖̭͉͙͙͐͆ͩ̈́̓̒̄ͧ̀͡s̼̝̙̜̥̭ͦ̓t̛̰̺͉͇̝̜̠ͫ̅̄ͯ̇͋̎ͣr̦̩̈̏̃͆̅ͪ̑̄͟ę̤͎̭͖̙ͭ̍̇ͥͥͫ̓͌̕t̵̞͂͐̐̂̉̆́c̶͛̉̉҉͚͙̤͎͉̲̱ȟ̥̱̥͚͚͚̼̅͂̉̑͐i̵̝̗̦͔͈̫̳͆͗̇̊ͬ͘n͌̏ͣ̎̄̑͐̕͏̞̙̝̞̮g̛͚̮̔̑̑̉̈͠ ͧ̐ͤͦ͏͕̣͍̠ͅt̶̟͈̭̼̣̊̈́̒̾ͭo̶̩̘̒̔̾͂̍͒̈́ ͎͕̝̞̓̅̔i̋́̏ͮ͏̢̟͈̹͔̻͓̭̜̦n̲̭̬̼͇̓ͩͮ̐̋̆ͤf̝̹͙̖͍̪̟͂̃͌ͫ̾ͫ͌̑̍͘͟i͇̲̩̘ͥ͊ͩͦͤͪ̈ń̴̘̰̲̥̘̫ͨͩͦ̑ͧ͝͠i̛̤̿͛ͅtͪ͐͒͒̓̔̚͠͏̟̼̻̱͠y̹̖̺͍̹̻͚͈̖̿͗ͫ̋̿ͤ͡b̸̒̉͑ͫͦ̇͊͋͆͛̋͑́͟͏͍͙̣̹̀ë̴̢͔̙̰̠̾̈́͐̓̿̍̿̈́͂̚͢͡c̢͎͚̩̜͈͕͑͂ͣͬ̎͞ắ̷̠̮̯̮̱̪͎̳̮̳͉̘̖̖̻͚͉̓͒̂̓̽͊ͥ͗̂͢͞͝ûͦ́ͯ̉҉̹͖̼̺̙̠̫͝͝ş̼̹̣̳̳̞̥̟̣̜̲̠̯͋̇ͧͥ̋ͦ̾́ͫͯ̎͞͝ͅȩ̶̛̮͖̣̜͉͇̩̮̦̞̳͍͇͖͓̃ͯ͋̔̄̏̑ͩ̅ͥ̐̔̔͘ͅͅ ̸̢̛̼̦̲͚̺̝͙͛ͣ̋ͭͪͤ͐͛̀̇̓ͥͮ͜w̴̱͙̤̙̼͚͆͂͗͗̕͡͞ͅȩ͆̾̅ͥ̀ͨͯͣͧ͑ͥ̑̈́ͭ̀͆̓̄̚͠͏͎̜̤̹̪͇̜̮̠̝̩̪̳͈ ̶̷̹̞͈̙̪̦͍̥͎̯͕̎ͧ̈́ͪͬͪ͋͐͐ͥ̐̀̊̏ͩ̕aͥ̈́̑̃̔͟͏̲͈̩̹ļ̯͖̠͔̩̙͍͖̘̳͈̣͙̖̰͎̜̪̫́̃ͫ͛̊͝ḷ̛͖̟͚̳͚̿ͮ̋͆̓ͤͨͧͪ́͛̃ͮ̒̃ͨ̋̚̚͘͟͠ ̸̈́̊ͩ̌̅͊ͭͯ҉̵̶͚̹̟̟̮͚̰̯̝̤̫̻̪͇h̦͚̬̥̯̙̣̬̱͇͉̠̫ͩ͒ͤ͛̌ͯ͛̏͗͝ͅa̴ͣ̓̈́̎̍̕҉̮͓̣̯̦̙̟̲͇͖͇̳̗͚͇͎͔ͅv͋ͤ͐̀̔ͤ͒̓́̄͊̕͡͏͎̪̫̻̥̲̹͍͎͕̞̤̳̰̘͠͞ͅé̢̛͛̓̐̏̈́ͩͨ̓ͣ̆̀̿̍̄̓̉ͨ̚͏̩͙͎͚̯̙͇̻̼̩̮ͅ ̧͂̍ͥ̾͆ͥ̇̅̌ͣ̀͊ͬ͋̏͗ͩ̀ͮ͏̀҉̠̪̤̮͕̖͎͚̫̩̝̝̗̹̺ͅt̶̵͚̟͈͖̀ͧ̑̽ͣ̔̓͛̌͌ͩ̒͝o̸̢͚̫͕͔ͯ̓̑ͩ́͜͜ ̧̛̛̭̱̭͇̞̇ͪ͌ͦ̒̋̈́͛͂̊͌ͭͪ̊̈́̀d̓͌ͧ͌ͨ͋̓̿͆̐̿̉̾̊͗҉̧̻͇̹̰͍͇̜͓͕̗͚́͡oͥͤ̄͒ͭͦ̑ͦͦ́̽ͮ̒ͧ̒ͮ҉̝͇̜̩̞̬̠̦̮̫͖ ̎̆ͫ́͒̄ͥ͛ͤ͏̼̫̻̖̼̗̹̰͙t̴̵̤͙̹͙̣͙͓̫̙͆̏̃̔̎̐̓̍ͫ̎̋̆̑ͨ̓̕͟h̃͒̊ͨ҉̫̮͕̲̦̝̦͓͜ǐ̸̺̤͍̩͙̺̘͈̫̭̩͗̿̃͜ͅs̔̐̎ͩͫ̊͒̾͌͊ͫ͏͇̦̯̦̙̞̱̯̝̮͈̘͠ ̶̊͆̇̾ͪ̉͂̈́ͫ̈́̎ͤ̆ͣ̔̋̓̀͢҉̴̙̖͇͚̼̮̮̝̥̠s̵͗́ͩ͒͑̌͌̽͏̶̫͓̗̀o̱̠̣̯͗̓ͫ͒ͩ̂ͩ̓͟͟o̵͇̘̥̥̭͎̹̫͎͚̠̪̠̖̫͙̯̼̊̑͂̉ͫ͌̀̀́̚n̛̔̃̐͒ͦ̋ͯͫ̋̑̎́̑̊ͪ́̀̄̚͜͝҉͉̣͓̙̪͔͝ȩ̩̘͍̹͖̺̋͂̈́̌̔̐̎̌̊̉̓̒ͯ̄r̨̛̖͖̹̰̼͕̺̣͎̟̥̹̬̻̤̜͆̃ͨͪ͗̂ͭ̔͋ͮ͑ͣ̄ͣ̀́͡͠ͅͅ ̷̡̛̛̟̘̮͕̤̲̱̹̥̺̮̳̳̳̘̬̥̉̒̇̔̌͛̂̃̅̒ͥ́o̵̶̫̤̗͙͇̖̥͌ͩ̎̋ͣ̂̆̒̓ͯͩ̾̂ͥͨ͗ͭ̚͘͜͢r̶̡͓̙̥̠̺͙̞ͤ͑̓̌̉̇̋ͦ͘ ̈ͮ̄͐̓͒̚͏̸̝͕͕̦̠̝̤͈͍̻̘̺̥͖̭̳̰̝͟ͅľ̵̹̺̻̝̪̿̄̏ͩ̿̀̕a̋́̎́̑ͮ͑͂̈̈́̆̾̇̓͗ͭ͡҉̸̙̼͚̺̪͕͞t̷̸̡̛͈̦̫̳̔̅͗͆̕ẻͦ̊̂̓̅͂͛͐̉̏̍̓ͧ҉̸̸̞̼̳̳̳͍̠̫̙̩̭̦͇̱̟ͅr̸̸͓̙̜̜̝̫̊̆ͧ̿̓̈́̈́ͣ͐̒̚͜

.

.

Ț̯ͮ͐u̷̝̼̭̲̮̬̘r͚̻͚̤͛ͣ̈́ͫ̀͠nͤ̀̄̇e̫ͥ͋ͭ̓ͧͯ͡d͌̓ͮͧ͟ ͗̓̓̚͏̙ả̈̇̚t̲͎̞̥̥̓̋͛ ̣̰̦͊ͣ͛ȁ̠͖̼̘͚̜ͯ̚͞ ̣̳͈̙ͬ͝r͓̣̪̗ͅĭ̽͋͐̒̏̽҉̦̣̭̟͚̪g̭̹͔̙̬̘͎̔̂̌̂͂͋ͫ̀h̒̅t̰ͥ ̗̙͓̫͇͇ͮͅȃ͕̖̹̞̼̻͂ͨ͝n̗͇̹͇̺̞̕g̷̱̥͂ͦ͗l͕̯ͭe͉̟͓̙͉ ͫͭtͯ̇͌̊̀ͫ͏̦̞̯o̩͑͆ͣ̀̈́̔̀ ̶̙̩̖͙̅͊̆ͯe̲̠̙̺͉̣̐͒ͩͮͭͫv̦̜̦̯͙̈́ͨ̆͊̆͗ͅḛ̭ͩr͚̟̖͚̫̒ͅỵ̰̩̥͉ͪt̜̹̯͠h̘͈͕̽͗̿́i̠͚̼ͧͪ̇̌ͥn͓͈͉̄̐͛̓̅ͤ̋͡g̠̣̹̞͎̣̘͌́̽ my foot falls echoed down the metal corridor and… wait, what?

I stopped and blinked, standing stock still in the dimly lit hallway that was definitely not the subway car I had just tried to enter... _or entered a while ago? What? Why is my memory…_ I shook my head as I looked down at the metal grating beneath me before shifting my gaze to the smooth featureless walls and circular lights overhead. I saw my breath clouding up in front of my face, and then felt the cold settle in around me. It wasn't too bad, but it was definitely colder than I would have liked.

"…Hello?" I said uncertainly, looking forward and back down the darkened hallway. But no one answered. So, I gave the only response I could to suddenly finding myself inexplicably transported to an unknown location with no one around.

"Well… shit."

* * *

Alright, there may have been a little bit of freaking out too, but I didn't waste too much time on it before just picking a direction and walking. I had hoped that things would become clear if I just walked around the corner and found something I recognized, or ran into a person I could ask what the hell was going on. But the hallway quickly turned into a maze of corridors and rooms, with stairwells going up and down. Most of the rooms were locked tight by smooth, featureless doors, but the few that were open were full of rectangular boxes made of some kind of metal. And still not a soul in sight.

At first I had hoped I had _somehow_ ended up in the subway service tunnels, but it became clear the place was some kind of facility or another, though I has yet to figure out its purpose. It definitely had some kind of sleek, futuristic aesthetic. It was making the 'accidental time portal' theory I had been kicking around in my head unfortunately plausible. That the few instances of writing I stumbled across were completely unfamiliar to me didn't help either. After a short while, I resolved to head upwards, as I figured that would probably at least get me out of the damn place.

Finally, after what felt like an hour of wandering and climbing stairs, I entered a chamber that was different than the others. For one thing it was larger and better lit than any other room I had found thus far, being a half hemisphere with equipment of odd shapes and sizes lining the wall. The most prominent thing was a large metal capsule resting partially upright on a slightly raised dais, and I caught the glint of a small window on it near the top. With a lack of any other course of action, I walked up to the capsule and peered through said window.

Though the view was tinted and obscured, I was only half surprised when I saw the outline of a feminine figure resting inside the capsule. _So, a cryo-stasis pod then?_ I wondered. _I mean, assuming I am in the future or in a hyper advanced base or whatever. And I hate that such a thing is currently my most reasonable guess. But where the hell is everyone? And who is she-_

My thoughts cut off as I noticed there was something etched onto the front of the capsule, covered in a layer of dust. I brushed the dust off and was greeted with an emblem. A _very familiar_ emblem: An 'S', contained inside a diamond.

"…what."

My hand fell onto the flat panel next to the pod, and the surface suddenly lit up with diagrams and scripts. A humming noise from behind caused me to turn, and I saw the half hemisphere that had made up part of the wall and ceiling shimmer and turn translucent. Light bloomed in the room as I was suddenly given a clear view of a winter landscape past the bounds of the window, plains stretching off into the distance before mountains rose up from the horizon. A bright blue sun hung over the world, casting everything an azure light.

"…what!"

My eyes then caught something out of place, and my gaze was pulled upwards. There, hanging almost directly above, was a giant saucer-like craft, purple with green highlights. It had a pair of prongs around the outside, along with three smaller discs floating off in front of it.

"…WHAT."

Before I could dwell on my oncoming existential crisis too much, there was a flash of green light from the center of the room and sudden someone was standing there. Or at least _something_ standing there. It was a mechanical humanoid colored purple and silver, its limbs clearly robotic slightly broader towards the ends. The head atop the broad torso was green and had a massive cranium, a number of red circles dotting the bald skull. Three were particularly prominent though, arranged in an inverted triangle on its brow creating a v shape.

He wasn't the one I was most familiar with, but I had seen pictures before, and my realization of where the hell I was had put me in the right mindset to recognize the being in front of me. "Brainiac."

The being remained still for a moment longer before it spoke, its voice carrying an odd resonance. "I have many designations. Notlimenif. The Computer Tyrant of Bryak. The Brain of Colu. Brainiac… is new." It hesitated for a moment longer before it nodded. "It is acceptable."

He then walked forward, his gaze flicking between myself and the stasis pod. "Curious. I scanned this facility earlier and you were not present. Furthermore, I detect no method by which you could have arrived. How did you come to this place?"

"…I don't know." I replied. I suppose I should have thought twice before casually conversing with a supervillain, but to be honest I was still so shocked by the situation I had found myself in I didn't know what else to do.

Brainiac didn't move. "Explain."

"I-I was going to work, and I ended up here! I have no idea how! I mean, this is impossible! That I'm here! That you're here! I- It- what the fuck is going on?!"

He stared at me for a moment longer before he returned his attention back to the stasis pod. "Most curious. A species phenotypically similar to Kryptonians mysteriously appearing in an isolated Kryptonian outpost. An enigma to be solved later."

Brainiac then walked up to the pod and stared at it, his eyes glowing as he did so. He then said nothing for a solid minute, apparently having dismissed me entirely in favor of the young woman inside the pod. The silence stretched on for a long while before, due to a lack of anything better to do, I asked "So, uh, you said this place is an outpost?"

"Yes, originally built during Krypton's Age of Exploration some millennia ago, though it has clearly seen use in recent years." The mechanical being replied. "This Kryptonian is the first I have found since Krypton's destruction."

I didn't feel particularly inclined to tell him about Kal-El, so I said "Yeah, shame about the death of their civilization." _Ugh, good to know that no matter the situation I'm still shit all small talk._

"It is common for civilizations to die." The machine replied blandly. "Their death was due to their own hubris and unwillingness to accept the truth. I imagine much of the galaxy will not care about their passing."

"Neat." I said before deciding to steer the conversation to something more productive. "So… what now?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"Now I shall shrink this facility with the Kryptonian inside, and preserve them on my vessel as a testament to their people and civilization." He looked at me. "You shall be a part of it as well, until I can determine exactly how you came to this place. You may have some connection to this facility after all." There was a flash of green light and Brainiac was gone. I stared at the space the cyborg had occupied a second ago before my gaze moved to the massive open window, and I saw a blue and purple light start to build around the underside of his spacecraft.

"…shit shit shit shit shit!" I muttered as I turned back to the console and frantically tried to figure out how to wake the young woman in the pod the hell up. I wasn't entirely sure what my long term plans were, but my short term plans had just become 'don't get shrunk and get the hell away from Brainiac', and my odds of accomplishing that when up significantly if I had the last daughter of Krypton helping me out.

I briefly tried to find meaning in the Kryptonian script before discarding the idea, instead just focusing on color and layout. _Ok, if this is the main screen, there's probably a button on here for 'wake the person up'. Luck don't fail me now._ I tapped part of the display. Nothing. I tapped a different part of the display. A weird beeping noise. I tapped a third part of the display. Another window opened up, and after a second I tapped it-

A tone sounded out form the console, and hum came from the pod. I took a few steps back just before the lid opened with a hiss, steam billowing out in every direction. It might have been my imagination, but it seemly like the light coming from the large transparent wall shifted and focused on the dais, bathing the entire space in blue light. I heard a gasp followed by something that was not quite a scream so much a wordless exclamation. I managed to see some thrashing through the steam before both she and the mist settled.

I stepped back in to see the young blonde woman in a dark grey jumpsuit lying in the open pod, eyes closed and taking deep breaths to steady herself. I gently reached out and touched her shoulder. "Hey, we don't have time to wait around, we have to get out of here."

Slowly, her brilliant blue eyes opened. She moaned as she blinked a few times, and then her gaze finally fixed on me.

Kara Zor-El then screamed in surprise and eye-lasered me.

The blue beams lanced out and struck me in the chest, propelling me backwards into the metal wall. The metal caved in around me as I imbedded in the surface. For a long silence moment I just hung there before I said "I don't think I deserved that."

Kara scrambled out of the pod towards me. "Dorish va krun?! Sel'na ventrach or-" It was then she noticed that she was floating towards me rather than walking, and gave a yelp of surprise before she tumbled face first into the ground.

"Maybe, but I still think you overreacted." I said flatly, staring to wonder when the shattering pain of having my entire skeleton pulverized kicked in. But as the seconds ticked by I felt nothing. In fact… I felt pretty all right. More than that, I felt great. I frowned as I moved to pull myself from the wall, and to my surprised the metal around me groaned as I pried my limbs from it. I was almost caught off guard when I fell from the wall onto the ground, landing on my hands and knees. As I stood I looked over my body, and while my clothes had ripped in several places, my body was completely unharmed. Hell I didn't even feel cold anymore. But… how? I just got lasered into a metal wall, how the hell-

My head snapped up to the blue sun blazing through the window before looking back at Kara, the girl awkwardly stumbling/flying as she was getting used to her newfound powers. Which she got from a _blue_ sun. _Right, Superman vision,_ I remembered. At some point the writers of Superman decided that if the Man of Steel was ever exposed to the light of a blue sun, he would basically get the exact same powers as if he was under a yellow sun, save that he would also get eye beams that temporally impart Superman level strength and toughness in their target.

God, comics are weird.

"So… got it out of your system?" I remarked as I (cautiously) walked over to the young woman.

She looked at me in confusion. "Xenas cor?"

 _Oh right, it wouldn't make sense for her to know English_ , I thought. _Wait, but how did Brainiac know English- never mind, I have bigger priorities_. "Ok, look, we-" I gestured between the two of us before I fanatically pointed outside. "have to get out of here. Because otherwise that thing is going to shrink us!" I pointed at the spaceship above us.

Kara's gaze followed my pointing finger, and she gave a start when she saw the ship. Before she could do anything else though, there were several flashes of light around us, and Brainiac returned. Except this time there were about half a dozen of him. The various robot copies formed a circle around the two of us, boxing us in. "I must insist that you do not attempt to escape." One said to me, while another addressed Kara at the same time in (what I assumed was) Kryptonian. "As the last of your species, you are too valuable to risk losing."

Kara angrily shouted something back I did not understand, and Brainiac responded. "I do not know anything of your family. You two are the only ones present in this facility other than myself, and there are no signs anyone has been here for several solar revolutions."

This response did not please Kara one bit, as she floated off the ground a little as she yell some more. Whatever she said, Brainiac was not impressed. The one addressing her raise his hands, blue energy sparking on them. "If you intend to continue on this course, I am afraid I will have to-"

That was as far as he got before Kara figured out her heat ray eye lasers.

The beams lanced out and sliced the Brainiac body in half, the rays tracing up the back wall and obliterating several of the machines in the back of the room. Given the way she screamed and shook her head (causing the rays to decimate a good chunk of the room), she was as surprise by this as anyone. The rest of the robots raised their hands to shoot her down, but that was the moment I moved. I grabbed the one closest to me and _threw_ it into the others. It felt like cardboard in my hands, but it smashed into three others with enough force to cause them all to shatter into pieces.

Some of the remaining turned on me, but I was already moving. Adrenaline pumping, I drove my first through the closest one's chest. The damn thing still tried to grab a hold of me, but I ripped off its arm and pulverized its head with it. Two of the others raised their hands towards me and lightning arced at me, striking both myself and the robot I held. I felt pain surge through my body, but I grit my teeth and pushed towards them. But then a third one joined in as well, and I fell to my knees as my muscles stopped responding. I stained and let out a strangled cry, but I couldn't move.

Kara then came in from the side and smashed into one of them, causing the other two to focus on her. That was enough for me to regain control and I dove forward, dive-tackling one's legs and nearly ripping it in half. I got to my feet and saw that my companion had racked up her own body count, and that there was only one left standing. It fired electricity at both of us, but it was not strong enough to stop us, and we crushed the damn thing between as we charged as one.

The two of us breathed heavily as we stood among the ruins of Brainiac's bodies before I glance back up at the window. The energy at the bottom of Brainiac's ship was starting to expand. I looked back at Kara. "Ok, _now_ we have to get out of here!"

"Shen!" She said back as she lifted off the ground, and pointed to the door on the opposite side of the room. I took the hint and moved to follow, and like that we were off into the hallways of the facility.

The journey was not a long one with Kara leading the way, but we did occasionally have to deal with more Braniac bodies teleporting in. The two of us tore through them while barely slowing down though, the robots simply unable to concentrate enough firepower in the narrow corridors to stop us. I had to admit, bounding through the hallways and plowing through robots with super strength was exhilarating… if also terrifying.

Soon enough the two of us reached a hallway that widened and terminated in a pair of heavy metal doors. Neither of us said anything, but as one we both sped up and slammed into the gates at top speed.

The doors flew outward from the impact and the two of us found ourselves standing outside in the snow, the fields spreading out around us. A quick glance around showed that the entrance to the facility was buried in the side of a hill, only visible from the front. Looking up I felt my heart skip a beat, as I saw that the energy I had seen at the bottom of Brainiac's ship earlier had formed into a curtain that was closing in around the facility. The blue energy wavered as it descended, a purple corona around the edge marking the barrier. And it was only a couple of dozen meters from touching the ground. "Which way?!" I yelled at my companion.

"Kal ma!" She shouted and pointed, and I saw another hill about a hundred meters away from our position. Normally I wouldn't have given it a second thought, but considering how well hidden the main facility was, I was willing to bet that it was some kind of hangar. And if nothing else, it was outside the curtain's radius.

But only a few seconds after Kara pointed, there was a flash of light between us and the hangar, and then there was another robot standing before us. While in the same general design as the others we tore through, this one was much bigger and more heavily armored, with two extra smaller arms sticking out of its torso ending in weaponry of some sort. The eyes flashed as Brainiac's voice came from the flattened face. "You are not permitted to leave."

Kara flew straight at the machine, no doubt planning to end the threat before it could react. The robot was too fast though, and in an instant a panel opened up on the front and a device shot out, looking to be a simple x-shaped vice. The device hit her square in the chest and she screamed as a dull red field enveloped her, the force of the impact actually driving her back and into the ground. The woman got up and flew at the robot again… only to make it a few meters before falling out of the air. She stumbled and jumped, but each hop was shorter and shorted until she fell to her knees, weariness overtaking her as she looked at the aura around her stunned.

It wasn't hard to figure out what was happening; That device was surrounding her in a cocoon of red sunlight, draining her of her power and blocking the blue sunlight from recharging her. She was powerless.

There was only a few seconds before the curtain came down. I didn't have time to think, so I did the first thing that came to mind. I ran up and grabbed Kara (ignoring the indignant yell) and flung her forward, sending her sailing. The young woman sent up a plume of snow as she crashed into the ground several dozen meters away, out of the curtain's radius. I then jumped as hard as I could, desperately hurdling myself out of the area.

I almost made it, and the outer purple corona fell right on top of me.

Try to imagine tiny hooks digging into every cell of your body and then pulling you apart in every direction. That was what I experience as my world was consumed by light and pain. I felt light I was being inside out over and over again, as energy ripped through the core of my being.

Finally, the instant ended, and everything just… twitched. It was like that for several seconds, everything fuzzy and incoherent, my mind refusing to put it together. Eventually, I realized I was lying face down in the snow, and the situation came back to me. My arm spasmed as I tried to push myself up and looked behind me, only so see that the facility was just… gone. An empty hole filling with snow was all there was left, and the beam emanating from the massive ship overhead narrowing until it disappeared. My arm then fell through the snow reacquainting my face with the substance. With effort I pulled myself up again and… wait, why couldn't I see my handprint-

My attention was grabbed as I saw Kara stumbling through the snow, trying to get away from the massive robot that was trundling after her. It wasn't moving in a hurry, as there was no way she could escape.

I forced my body to stand, my frame still twitching as I moved. I had to do something. I had to get-

I was standing in front of the robot. Both I and the mechanical being froze, neither of us quite sure how I got there. The moment passed, and I was still too disoriented to dodge when the Brainiac bot's chest opened up and fired another one of those vices at me. The device hit me and-

Passed clear though me.

I staggered at the sensation, looking down at my unmarked chest in shock. I didn't have long to think on it though, and the robot wasted no time in stepping in and taking a swing. I tried to dodge-

I wasn't standing in front of it anymore. Rather, I was a few meters to the left of it. The robot spun and swung at me again, but again the same thing happened. Every time I tried to move I would just… appear somewhere else. I could barely control it, my body still twitching and spasming from whatever the hell that field had done to me. It didn't feel like I was shaking it off either, and there was a growing tingling sensation spreading out from the core of my being.

Finally the Brainiac bot decided that it had enough, and raised all of its hands toward me. I 'stepped' away again, but this time it was fast enough to track me and fired several streams of lightning at me. I screamed as the electricity tore through me, but not in pain exactly. It felt like a storm had ben ignited in my core, the lightning feeding and building it. Arcs of electricity flared off me and melted the snow around me as I felt myself threatening to unravel, the energy within me almost tearing me apart from within.

But I wouldn't let it. Gathering every scrape of willpower I had, I forced the power within to compress, to come under my control. The arcs of lightning I was giving off reduced in frequency until they stopped, and all the robot's attack was being absorbed into me. The pressure inside me built and built, and just before I was overwhelmed I did the only thing I could think of.

I stepped forward.

Everything went blue as I stepped up the lightning, and for an instant I was inside the robot. In that instant data poured in, number and symbols dancing in my mind. None of it made any sense, and there was so, so much. It broke the last bit of my self-control, and I screamed as I let go.

For a time, my world was nothing but light, sound and fury. Eventually it faded, and I was left standing in a crater feeling… hollow. Tired. Like I was coming apart at the seams. The air crackled with electricity as I looked around, the various superheated parts of robot melting the snow around me. Then, I saw Kara, lying in the snow some distance away, looking at me with wide eyes. She still had the damn device on her chest.

Then, I was standing over her. My hand reached down and passed into the device, and immediately the aura around her dimmed as power drained out of it into me. It only took a few seconds before it faded entirely, and Kara ripped it off of her.

It wasn't enough. I stumbled back as I felt my grip on myself fading more and more. I held my hand up in front of me and saw it start to crackle and blur. I looked at Kara, who stared back at me in wonder.

"Wh- _wh_ -what' _sss_ happ- _p_ -pening t- _t_ -to _meeeee_ -

* * *

I woke up unable to move.

Well, 'woke up' isn't quite right, it felt more like coming off of anesthetic. Everything just got fuzzy at some point, and now everything was snapping back into focus. Though what I saw was… strange. I seemed to be inside some kind of large, translucent cylinder nestled against the wall of a cramped metal room. The space was filled with a number of strange devices, and I could see lines of light tracing through the far wall I was staring at. What was stranger was how the colors were indescribably vibrant and shifting, and the lines of light seemed to extend into a 3d pattern past the wall.

My body also felt… tingly and energized all over _. I must be in some kind of healing tank or something_ , I thought to myself. _Maybe there's an energy field that's messing with the colors?_

Before I could think on it further, Kara trotted into view and came to a stop in front of me. She was dressed in a new jumpsuit and had some kind of sleek device in her hand, but otherwise looked the same. For a long moment she didn't say anything, and I got my first real look at the woman I knew as a superheroine.

Striking. That was the first word that came to mind as I stared at this young woman. Every feature about her seemed defined and prominent, from her piecing blue eyes, her gold-blond hair, to her proportions. Everything about her was just a little larger than life, just a little something extra to her that was impossible to miss. Whatever effect was messing with my vision also made her practically _glow_ to my eyes. What... does one even say when looking at something like this?

"Hi."

She blinked in surprise and gave a little start. She then fiddled with device in her hand a bit before she looked back up at me. "Orla telmach." she said as she made a gesture near her throat.

"You… want me to talk?" I asked, and she nodded while making a 'continue' gesture with her hand. So I did. "Oh, so it's a translator then, and you need it to hear my language to- wait a second, does nodding mean yes to you? Is that a universal thing between humanoid creatures? Because I could be entirely misinterpreting you-"

"And done!" She interrupted cheerfully. Or rather, the device said in tandem with her as she spoke her native tongue. She glanced down at the device with a curious expression. "Huh, that was fast. Looks like your language was already stored in the translation matrix. Man, Uncle Jor sure did get around…" She looked back up and suddenly seemed at a bit of a loss. Eventually she said "So… I'm Kara. Kara Zor-El. Thank you for saving me from… him."

"Ah, you're welcome." I said back. "I'm Jacob Morgan… and I am uncertain how any of this just happened."

Kara looked at little sheepish. "Right, well, at the moment we're on my ship and heading as far away from the outpost as we can, so we're safe. After you… lost cohesion, I had to head to the hangar to grab an energy net in order to actually move you onto the ship. Looks like your last little trick messed with the scanners, so we got away clean. Then I had to load you into this containment chamber and fiddle with the nobs until you pulled yourself back together. Lucky for you my uncle was a scientist that was prepared for everything."

I nodded along (well, tried to), but part of me was feeling really detached yet overwhelmed at the same time. I mean, I was in a space ship, hurdling away from an insane alien robot, and _in the DC Universe_. It was just… how was this possible? "This is unreal." I muttered to myself.

Kara took this as if I was talking to her. "I know. Krypton is… gone, I have no idea where my family is, and to top it off I'm talking with a Lost Colonist of all things."

"A what?"

"Oh, well, that's what we called you in the legends. The Science Council always said otherwise, but there's no way all of the colonists that were sent out came back when The Return was called. Or just up and died. Unless-" A though seemed to occur to her, and the young woman slinked a little out of sight. "Wait, you're not a Daximite, are you?" she said as she narrowed her eyes.

"I- no, no I am not a Daximite." I said. There were many, many things I wanted to ask, so I decided to start with the matter that was most pressing and that she might have an answer to. "So… what happened to me?"

"Not… really sure." Kara said as she turned away to poke at some screens near my cylinder. "I mean, study of the Photo-Nucleic was highly restricted, I only know about it because of my uncle. And I've never seen anything that that shrinking tech, so Rao knows how they interact-" She cut herself off when she realized she was rambling and turned back to me. "Basically, I think that outer field was supposed to either shunt, displace, or remove any mater on the edge of the shrinking field, but it couldn't properly handle mater charged with the Photo-Nucleic like you were. As a result you were put… out of phase with everything."

I stared at her for a long moment before I said "I have no idea what that means."

"It means you have some trouble holding yourself together." She waved off. "Don't worry though, I managed to find an old radiation suit, and the ship's computer helped me retrofit it to your… thing. You got fit into it just before you woke up."

I tried to look at myself, but I still couldn't move my head. "Does that have anything to do with why I'm completely paralyzed?"

"Oh, sorry! The restraining fields!" Kara exclaimed as she moved the nearby panels and started typing away. "They were to keep you contained, but it looks like the suit is doing its job, so…" A few more taps and the front of the cylinder slid upwards, and suddenly I found myself stumbling forward. Kara reached an arm out to my chest and caught me, and I gave her a nod of appreciation before… wait, why were all the colors still strange?

I stood up straight and stared down at myself. The formfitting body suit was primarily blue, with white accents running up the arms and legs, and of course had a giant House of El shield across the chest. Something was off about it though, something about the blending of blue towards the hands- Oh, it was because my hands weren't actually covered by the suit.

…So then why were my hands blue?

Slowly, I turned to look towards a large mirror on the other side of the room, and I got a good look at my face. It was pale blue, with my eyes being an even paler shade. My face was framed by that open-rectangle headdress thing that Kryptontians seemed to favor, leaving my dark blue hair open to the air.

I stared at the image. The image of a terrible idea from the 90's stare back at me.

"Oh for fucks sake."

=====S=====

A/N: That's right, Electric Blue Superman SI. As goofy as the decision was to give it to Superman for that one year, it is actual a pretty neat and versatile power set. That said, to keep with the Earth-16 power scale, this version would likely have reduced capabilities, or have a much more explicit power meter where he would run out of energy and have to recharge.

As for the story arc, for whatever reason I imagined this SI hanging out more the the Justice League than the team itself. Kara is the independent sort, and Jacob has kinda gotten himself involved in Superman's business, so that's where they start from. It would be interesting to see something done in Earth-16 that was primarily from the League's perspective.


	6. What if: Inadvisably Applied Lantern 1-1

Here is the last of the alternate versions I came up with for this fic... until I make more for funsies.

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W̷͇̮̟͇̬̯ͤͬ̓͛́e̷̛̳̼̼̤̣̘̻̞̱̯̠̥͎͊͐́͒͆ͣ͒͌͌ͫ͟͠ ̊̔̐̒͑̍̏́͜͞͏͠҉̙̩̮̥̠a̵̧̛̲̘̖̳͍͖̘̲͈̰̱̜̙̗̯̰ͥ͑ͥ̽̿̾͊ͤ̀͝ļ̴̮͈̻̰̮͔̭̩̳̖͗̉̀ͬ̂̾l̾͑ͤ̂ͪ͒̉͂ͯ͂̇҉͏̖̥̭̲̩̗̯̮͖̩͕̟͔̥͓͕͠ ̧̰̹̱̙̬̟͍͇̾̏̔͗ͧ͊ͯ̂̓̽͐ͤ͛͗́ḩ̵̯̦͇̼̝͔̞̜̠̻͈̩̣̩̹̻̥̟ͪ͆ͤ̓ͪ͑̌̇͑́͒̈́̓̄̄͟͞a̬͕͉͉̱̫͎̖̲͙̗̤͖̺͚̣ͧ̅̽ͣͯ̃̑̇͊ͮ̎ͫ̑ͯ͌̽ͫ́͜ͅv̂̄ͧͪ́͐ͨ̈̑ͤ̈̀̏̋̏͋͢͏͔̤̜͕͇̼̱̲̫̺͢eͦ̉̅ͭͪ̃̓̌͐ͭ̎̾ͭ̓ͣ̉̔͐ͯ͏̛̜͔̥̥͇̠̟̳̖̦͇̯̩̀ ̸̅̍̂͒̎ͤ̿ͥ͏̶͏͕͇̞͙͇͖͎̮͉̝͖̘͍̕tͩ̌͛ͦ̅͛̄̽̓҉̴̷̢̖̫̩̖̮͍͓̫̻̯̙̖́ȯ̵͔̺̱͚̙͚̤̗̤̣͖̬͔̻͈̫̝͚̗̃̈́ͪ̇̿̅̔̆̏̚̚̕͝͝ ̒͑̄ͭ̅̚҉̷̧̢̺͔͇͕̝̯d̶̷̵̬̱̣̼̯͉͕̱̦̮̟̻̞͔̉̃̿ͨ̒͋̆ͤ̈́̉͗̈ͨͦ̎͒͜͞ȍ̉͋̉̆ͦ̏͊̌͐̑ͤ̉ͯ͒́̚҉̦̗͙̰̻͓̫͝ ̵ͩ́ͧ͂͐̅͌̌͗̏͂͗̒̃͊͏͏̡̤̬͖̹̳̱̬͍͙͜t̒͌̉̔̓̽ͩ̉̇͌̎͌͗̀͂̓̎̋ͥ҉̷͏̶̱̯̬͉̣̩͈̪̼̱͕ͅͅḥ̴̷̨͙̹̜͎̜̰ͨ́́ͥ͑͊̃́̚͘i̦̼̹͔̭̹͕͉͈͈̳̝̲̱͕͕̓̀̑̔̏́̕͞͡ş̨͙͇̳͓̮̼͔̻͍̜̟̬͖͔ͦ͒ͯ́̂̊̓̍ͥ̓ͬ̕ ̨͗̉ͫͫ̄̅̓ͪͯ̄̇̐ͤ̎ͫ͐͌̐҉͔̦͓͇̪̳͔͉̹̤̹̹̭̭̼̬s̴̶̷ͯ̓ͯ͊ͭ̈́̈҉̸͓̙͚̹͚̹̖̦̫̼͕̠̜̜͙͓o̢̒͂̃͐͊ͬ̆͗̏ͭ̎͗̊͘҉͓͙͇͚̞̻̥̰͖͎ͅȍ̸̶̝̘̻̥͉͆̐ͣ͑͑̃ͪͩ̅ͮ͂̉͐̀ͩ̔ͦ̕n̢̜̼̲̳̟̘̯̺̖̳͈͆ͬ̽͂ͣͯͨͣ̃̂́͠e̛̪̗̦͚̜͇̹̙̻̘͎̟̩͈͕͎͖̽̍̂̊ͣ̏ͥ̾́̀͢r̶̢̒͛ͦ͘͏̳̳̦̠͈͓͇̰̮̠̫̣ ͑̊̔ͤ̈̈́̌́̅̉ͩͬ͒̀́ͣͬ҉̷̢͈͇̱̤̘͔͖̩̺͠͝ͅo̸̵͊ͩͮ͂̔͑̀̿̏͌̀̎͋͗ͪ̌ͨ̓ͦ̕҉͎̟͎͎̯̻̮r͌̉̏ͪͮ̆͘҉̹̱̜͞ ̸̧̨̭͚̞̭͉ͤͦ͗͜l̡̛͑̂ͣͬ͂̂ͥ̏҉̷̡̟̟̝͍̩a̶̶̞̭̖͍̬̫̹̫̩̞̼̲̪̅̓̄ͩ͌́͟͞t͆̅ͥ̑̃̈̐ͣ̂̑̄̐̔ͯ̈ͮ̃̅ͩ҉̸̜̘̝̞̪͕̹̞̘̟̪̯͈̹̺̀͡͞e̛̩̳̯͔͈̱̭̟̳͖̟̱̋ͦͯ͐̋̓͌͌ͧͨ͗̏̅͠r̰͈͖̗͚̞̦͇̪̯ͮͬ̂̊̎̇͐̇̉ͮ͆̎̄̊̄ͫ͌ͥ͜͜

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I winced as the memory float up to the forefront of my mind, the pain of it causing me to pause in my work. I still couldn't really remember what happened the day things went sideways for me, when stepping into a subway car had ended up with me in this… place. Only fragments, bits of chaos… and that one sentence. What it meant, I had no idea, but I had a feel that the place I had ended up in was making me think about it more and more.

Spreading out in every direction around me were bookshelves, row after row stretching out across the marbled floor as far as I could see. They also extended upwards in a spiraling mess of floors, balconies, and terraces. The books themselves were from every era and culture I knew of, from modern bindings, to old manuscripts, to even scrolls. The languages contained within were equally diverse and old, covering the entirety of human history.

This was the Library of Every Book Never Written. Naturally, most of it was complete garbage.

I shook my head and got back to my great task. "Ok," I muttered as I completed the last parapet with a copy of _Dresden Files fic where Elaine is the Main Character_. "I've got a solid foundation of Worm Alt-Power fics, and a whole bunch of Naruto self-inserts making up the first floor. With some Evangelion Peggy Sues filling in the gaps. Second floor is a lot of inappropriate Harry Potter fics, with some Susan fix fics for good measure. And the ramparts are every Dresden Files fic I could find. Hmm. Should work on the dungeon next. Off to find some Twilight fanfiction."

Before I could leave, I then heard footsteps coming closer, which then turned into something between a gasp and a groan. "What in the- what are you doing?!"

I peered over the parapet of my castle made of terrible unwritten fanfiction. "This is my home! I live here now!"

The man glaring up at me was very pale with wild black hair. He wore dark robes that made it difficult to tell where his limbs were most of the time, but at the moment he was using one arm to gesture at me in exasperation. "Honestly, I know that you might be a little bored, but-"

"A little bored?!" I yelled as I started to move to the entrance of my fort. "I haven't seen you in three days! You just said you'd look into it and vanished! You didn't even tell me where the bathroom was!"

I was lucky that when I first appeared in this damn place that I appeared near the edge of the Library, and picked the right direction to wander in. I probably would have died of thirst otherwise. Such as it was, it still took me longer than I would have liked to search the nonsensical castle for a kitchen. And a toilet.

The pale man gave me a suffering glare before he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Where the hell did Lucien disappear to? He should be the one to deal with this." He muttered before looking back at me. "Look I am not exactly thrilled at your presence here either. I don't make a habit of entertaining normal humans-"

"Great, so send me back home." I said as I reluctantly strolled out of my fortress. "Surely you've figured out how by now."

He sighed. "…No. Like I said, there are many, many Earths in the multiverse, and you left no appreciable trace of where you came from. Do you have any idea just how many Earths are connected to the Dreaming?"

I gestured helplessly. "Can't you just… dream up a way to figure it out, though? Look, Not!Neil Gaiman-"

"Stop calling me that!" The man yelled. "And how in the name of the Void are you pronouncing the exclamation point?!"

"It's a gift." I muttered. Part of me wondered if I had started to go a bit crazy. I mean, aside from potentially hallucinating this entire thing. Suddenly finding myself in the DC Multiverse is reasonable grounds for considering that I may have had a stroke. The fact that the man in front of me knew that I knew of him as a fictional character and was completely unconcerned with it was also an indication in that direction.

Before we could get into it further, I heard footsteps approaching from behind the nearest bookcase, with a female voice following soon after. "Alright Dream, what has vexed you so much that you had to ask for my-" The moment the woman rounded the corner of the bookshelf and came into view, she stopped to look at me. She was very pale with raven black hair and dressed in a black tank-top and jeans. She had a small swirl mark underneath her right eye, and a silver ankh on a cord around her neck. "Oh, another one?"

I stared into the face of Death. It was rather pretty.

My adjustment to the weirdness that had become my life recently allowed me to recover fairly quickly. "Wait, what 'another one'?"

She waved me off as she walked closer. "Don't worry about it-"

"I'm worrying about it."

"But, as I am sure my brother was explaining to you, we can't send you home." She said regretfully. "We simply don't know where it is."

I felt all of the indignation bleed out of me, replaced with a sort of hollow sensation in my chest as the realization set it. I wasn't going home. "…What's going to happen to me?"

"Keeping you here would turn you into a creature of the Dreaming, something I'm sure you'd want to avoid." Death said. "As such, I think it would be best if we simply found you a new Earth to live on."

Oh. I get to live in a DC universe. That was… something, I guess. I shook my head when I realized I was being silent. "Sorry, it's a lot to take in. Going to a place I've read about in fiction. By _you_ , of all people .Then again, I suppose you do have experience bringing people in to new worlds."

Death gave a warm smile at my comment. "It is rare that I meet people that know my other name, but it is always a pleasant surprise. I suppose the advantage of universes having stories about us means there will be more people who know us as… well, people. That said, I hope I'm your favorite Anthropomorphic Personification you've read about/."

"…would you take it poorly if I said that the Reaper Man is my favorite?"

She actually laughed. "I actually enjoy Pratchett's take on myself. I'm thinking of dressing up when go to meet him."

That made me smile, and I felt the tension in my chest fade a little. "I'm not against your company exactly, but why did this guy ask for your help, specifically? I personally find it a little auspicious."

Death shrugged. "I'm better with people."

"…There's something very sad about that."

"I know!" She exclaimed. "I keep trying to get him to socialize more, but he just locks himself up in some dark hole and mopes-"

"Anyway!" Not!Neil Gaiman said loudly. "We should get back to addressing the matter at hand, which is getting you out of the Dreaming and onto Earth. Any Earth."

"I want the Earth where I have life." I insisted. "I don't particularly like the idea of being dropped off in a world with no money, no home, and no one who knows me."

The man hummed. "I could do that, but then you'll have to deal with your doppelganger."

I rolled my eyes. "Damn it, you know what I mean."

Death hummed for a moment before she spread her hands. "Well then, how about we give you a small boon then? Something to help you survive."

"What?" Not!Neil Gaiman looked at his sister in confusion. "Why? He's not our responsibility-" He cut himself off at the sharp look Death gave him, and I got the impression that the two were having a silent conversation in front of me. After a few moments he turned to me. "Ah, yes, perhaps a small boon would be useful."

"…This is going to cost me, isn't it?" I said.

"I am not going to demand some magical contract or fey deal, if that is what you're asking," the man said as he turned away from me and gestured, a table rising up out of the marbled floor. "But there are not many who know of the Endless as… intimately as you do. It may be useful to have someone who can take care of little matters for us."

 _So, I'm to be your errand boy then_ , I thought to myself, but out loud I said. "I see. So, what do you have in mind for this 'boon'?"

"I don't have the inclination to imbue you any sort of magical power," He said as he passed his hand over the table, the surface recessing down and… filling with water? "But, things do get lost in the Dreaming all the time. I'm sure one of them will be useful to you."

I arched an eyebrow. "You're… going to let me root through your lost and found bin for something that will help me live?"

"Not how I would have put it, but yes." The water in the newly formed basin started to shimmer, and suddenly I could see objects drifting just beneath the surface. Clothing, devices, weapons from all ages. "Of course, I won't let you take just anything. A number of things that have spilled into my domain would shatter your very mind, doom an entire world upon use, or any of number of unpleasant outcomes."

"Fair enough," I muttered as I looked at the various objects drifting beneath the surface. To be honest though, I had no idea what I was going to pick. I mean, I obviously wanted the most powerful thing I could get my hands on for the sake of surviving, but I also wanted to be able to make a living. Being invincible isn't helpful if I can't make rent. So something with as much functionality as possible? Did I know of anything in DC that I could use my imagination to-

Hmm. Actually… "Do you have any Power Rings? I think I could use one of those."

Not!Neil Gaiman hummed and waved his hand, and a moment later the items were replaced with an array of colorful rings. "Pulled from a number of different universes, so they might behave a little differently than you'd expect. No orange rings though, _that_ fellow is annoying to deal with."

I was silent I as once again was faced with a choice. Green was the obvious one. Blue was powerful, but hard to wield and kinda crap without a Green present. But Indigo could give me a lot of versatility… assuming I didn't get brain wiped by the thing? Should I ask for a White Ring? It's powerful, but really hard to control. I think.

After a minute of thinking about it, I heard him cough. "If you could perhaps come to a decision?"

I looked at him side glance. "Kind of a big decision here."

"Really, whatever you decide should be fine. I'm sure you can find a way to uses one of these to get you whatever you want."

"What I want is to go to my real home." I said flatly.

"Enough!" The man snapped. "I have told you time and again that I cannot send you back wherever you came from. I am willing to give you the means to help you survive in the place my sister can send you. Now pick a damn color so I can get you out of my home already!"

Sometimes I look back on that moment and wonder what exactly made me say what I did. Maybe it was my irritation with his dismissiveness, my own suppressed panic at suddenly being cast from my home for reasons I didn't understand, or maybe it was just the presence of the Anthropomorphic Personification of Death jiggling something in my memory. Whatever the case, I somewhat flippantly gave him my answer.

The two stared at me for a long, confused moment.

Then, Death grinned.

* * *

When you're a superhero in Gotham City, there are certain things you just have to do. One of them is to stand on a gargoyle while staring broodingly out over the cityscape, contemplating the nature of vigilante justice along with your own dark and troubled past that brought you to this moment. I didn't exactly have a dark and troubled past, and my relationship with vigilante justice was more academic than practical at this point, but I didn't let that stop me. Didn't make it any less cold though.

The wind whipped at me as I grumbled into the night air, bringing my right hand up to my face. "And why again did you decide that this was the best place to be?"

" _We said that the best place to be would be inside of a nice study,_ " The voice that emanated from the Ring on my finger had a choral quality to it, as if it was spoken to me by a multitude of voices perfect harmony. All of which had vague British accents. " _You were the one who insisted on coming up to this wind blasted spot._ "

"One, the gargoyles are practically a tourist spot, so there was no way I wasn't visiting. And two, I meant this city in general. I was doing fine in Chicago." While Death had picked the world I was to go to, I was the one who settled on the Windy City for where I would live. I did so based on the hunch that I could find a certain community of people. This thankfully turned out to be correct, and allowed me to use my ring to make a living as a sort of consultant.

" _As we told you earlier, there is a great power in this city. One similar to our own existence. It would be wise to keep an eye on it._ "

I grunted before lowering my hand. To be honest, I had no idea who (or what) the Ring was taking about. Aside from Batman and his Rogues I wasn't aware of anyone else of note living in Gotham City. It may have been something unique to the universe the two Endless had placed me in, or maybe something I had just forgotten. Either way, in spite of what the Ring insisted, I didn't see myself sticking around the place for long.

I shivered slightly as a particularly strong gust blew past me. "Alright, I think I'm done sightseeing for now. Damn it, it's July, how is it so cold up here?"

" _You know, you would be warmer if you just closed your-_ "

"Never!"

My current outfit was something I had managed to talk the Ring into. To most people it was a simple black bodysuit with a white octagon on the chest, and a black duster thrown over it. Of course the Ring insists that I wear the longcoat closed, because the damn thing has no appreciation for the billow effect.

I heard the Ring sigh before it said " _We suppose this is good practice then. Reach the street without using the stairs or that elevator contraption using Sympathetic Resonance, like we have taught you._ "

I scowled as I looked at the thing. "I know for fact that you can just use raw magical energy to form spells rather than all this complicated theory and storing attributes and whatever."

"We _can, because we have all the accumulated knowledge and focus to manipulate the raw energies without our mind turning inside out. You on the other hand are a novice, so you need to learn to do it the proper way first._ "

This time I sighed before I fished a small piece of metal out of my pocket, something I had broken off of dumpster at the base of the building. "Sometimes I wish a picked a normal Power Ring. That didn't sass me," I muttered. With a small bit of will I connected my momentum with said dumpster before casting myself of the side of the building. Since the dumpster was so much heavier than I was, I had to focus so that I only gave it some of my momentum, so that I didn't just hang in the air. As such, I slowly drifted to the ground, while my anchor rose slightly into the air.

I cut the connection the moment I touched the ground, and I heard a loud crash as the dumpster fell to the ground. There weren't many people on the street at this time of night, though there was a group of a dozen men of so loitering on steps across the street, as well as a woman in a hooded jacket out for a walk. They looked in the direction of the crash, but ignored it quickly.

I took a deep breath before I started to walk down the street in the direction of my loft. Lucky for me my 'Fixer' back in Chicago had some friends here in Gotham that could put me up for a few days. But if I didn't find anything before then-

" _Apprentice,_ " The Ring suddenly said, bringing me out of my musings. " _There is a powerful source of magic nearby._ "

I ached an eyebrow. "The one you've been talking about?"

" _Yes… and no. It's not the same. But it's connected._ "

Out of the corner of my eye, and across the street, I saw that the group of men had taken notice of the woman as she passed them. In particular, one gave a startled yelp as she turned her hooded head towards him. As she passed, the man said something to his companions in agitation I couldn't make out. The group then got up off the steps and followed after her.

The woman saw the attention she was getting, and picked up her pace. In a few moments she turned down a drive that lead to a loading dock between buildings. The men wasted no time in following her in.

"Well, whatever it is, it will have to wait," I said. "Need to go fill out my superhero quota first." I hustled after the groups down the alleyway and arrived just in time to see the woman in question with her back to a truck, the men closing in around her.

One of the men pulled out a crowbar (standard equipment here in Gotham, I assume) and said "Well, well, fancy seeing you here, Ivy. You remember how your damn freak plants tossed us around when you came by Penguin's club last?"

From the motion of the woman's head, I guessed she was rolling her eyes. "For the love of-, I'm not Poison Ivy. Ugh, this happens every time I come to visit…" She then pulled her hood back, and what I saw gave me pause. The woman had emerald green skin, along with long dark green hair framing her face. She was quite attractive, though the intense look in her eyes drew most of my attention. "See, green hair. You guys know that Ivy has red hair, right?"

The men looked uncertain for a few moments before their leader shrugged. "People can dye their hair. Besides, what're the odds that you're some other green broad that happens to be in Gotham?"

Given the woman's annoyed groan, I got the impression that she wasn't too concerned with the situation. Still, there was a chance that if things got violent someone could get permanently hurt or killed. So, I decided to try heading that off. "Gentleman!" I called out, everyone turning to look at me as I approached. "We're all off the clock here. Why don't we wait till working hours to settle grudges, hmm?"

"Who the hell is this guy?!" One of the thugs yelled.

I shrugged, but in spite of my relaxed stance I was mentally preparing for an attack. "Oh, just someone from out of town who moves in the same circles as you lot. Look, you guys don't want this. If that is Poison Ivy, do you really think she isn't prepared to wreck this whole place with super plants if you try to hurt her? And do you know how much crap I'll have to deal with if she causes that much collateral? So, I think it's best if you all… just…"

The reason I trailed of was that green energy had started to emanate from the woman's left hand, a sort of mist that flowed underneath the truck she had her back to. It coalesced into a giant green hand which lifted the truck off the ground and into the air, floating it to just above the group in front of me.

I hesitated for a moment before I pointed up at it. "Dodge."

The woman was considerate enough to give the men time to look up and hurl themselves away before she dropped it on top of them. As such, no one was crushed, but the group was separated in half by the large vehicle dropped between them. I could no longer see the woman, but given the sounds of combat that were occurring I assumed that she was handling things just fine on her own.

 _So much for avoiding combat_ , I thought to myself as the nearest man fell back on trusted habits and came running at me swinging. My fist clenched as I drew on the power stored in the ring. Specifically, the power of about three dodges.

The world blurred slightly as I stepped to the side with preternatural speed, causing the man to stumble as he hit nothing but air. I then followed up with a kick to the man's side. Bruce Lee once said 'I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 different kicks once, but the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.' I'm not sure what he would have said about the man who can use the same kick 10,000 times at once, but it probably would have been a strangled grunt before he quickly vacated the premises.

Ok, for me this was more like five times at once, but it still sent the man flying across the lot and tumbling across the ground. The other men hesitated and stared at me, giving me time to settle into a proper fighting stance.

" _A very… practical approach, as always Apprentice._ " The Ring remarked. " _Still I suppose you have to start somewhere. We will make a proper Wizard out of you yet._ "

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered as I bounced from one foot to another, trying to keep my mind in the right head space. The simplest form of wizardry (at least in the universe where the Ring came from) was the practice of storing, converting, and moving around effort. Sympathy magic was a natural consequence of this, but another was Potential magic (The Ring hated it when I invented terms, but it helped me so I did it anyway). The art of storing energy and actions for later use. And I had spent a lot of time in the gym storing up punches, kicks, and jumps which I could unleash at a moment's notice.

Storing dodges was a lot trickier though. For it to count I had to actually try to dodge something, and storing that attempt made me fail to move at all. I got hit by a lot of baseballs in the batting cage is what I'm saying.

Two of the men got over their trepidation and rushed me, coming at me from two sides. I extended my hand at one and released about '3 seconds of fireplace heat' in the direction of one of them, causing the air to ripple and distort. It wasn't enough to hurt the man, but it was very painful and distracting to have super-heated air shot into your face, which caused him to stumble back and gag. I ducked back from the other man with three stored charges, before shooting back in with a four charge punch to the gut. The man doubled over and started puking his guts out. I then shoulder checked the other man before he could recover, knocking him to the ground.

One of the side benefits of storing up all those punches, kicks and jumps was that it doubled as a pretty decent workout routine. I had just taken down three men and I was barely breathing hard.

The sight of one of the men pulling a gun put a damper on my elation though. _Shit!_ I thought before I forced myself to calm down. I needed to stay calm to focus. As the man took aim I moved towards him in a zig-zag pattern, each step causing me to blur as I moved farther than normal. Stored speed was really hard to control, so I tended to favor stored steps for quick movement. The man fired several rounds, but my erratic movements made it impossible for him to draw a bead on me.

I could have theoretically absorbed the force of the impact from the bullet. So long as I could achieve perfect mental focus on at the exact moment of impact, while also keeping track of the remaining men who were trying to crush my skull in.

Yeah, I was going to stick with dodging.

The instant I got within a few meters of the gunman I extended my hand and unleashed about '2 seconds of sticking a fork in an electrical socket' worth of electricity. The electricity found the shortest path to ground through the gun the man was holding, and then subsequently the rest of him. The man twitched violently before he crumpled.

I then spun just in time to see another one of the thugs advancing on me, flicking a knife in between his hands. "Got a bunch of tricks, do ya?" The man said with his teeth bared. "Well, old Johnny's been dealing with you kind of freaks for years. You ain't gonna surprise me with no-" The man was cut short as I reached into my coat and unleashed my secret weapon.

"Pocket Glitter!"

"Aaargh! My eyes!" The man screamed as I threw a handful of the Devil's Dandruff into his face. I then proceeded to Sparta kick him in the midriff with 2 charges sending him to the ground.

" _Well done._ "

I turned to look at the last man standing, who was watching me cautiously. I focused on him… which is why I didn't noticed the man charging me from behind until it was almost too late. One of the men I had put down hadn't been put down hard enough, and I was forced to do the first thing that came to mind: I jumped.

6 charged took me over the charging man's head, but he unfortunately stopped the moment I vacated the space. As such I came down right on top of him. On the plus side the impact of my body colliding with his knocked him out for good, but on the minus side I tumbled to the ground in an awkward pile of limbs, my head slamming into his, leaving me dizzy. Awkwardly looking up, I saw the last man calmly walking toward me and pulling a gun of his own.

It was then, in a fit of desperation, I did something very embarrassing. I just… _did_ magic.

The second rule of magic, such as it is, is as follows: Magic can do anything, so long as you don't care about the consequences.

Precedingly, the first and far more important rule of magic is _Care about the consequences, Damn It_.

Magic always has a price. Paying upfront was the safest way to do it (assuming you got the cost correct), but you can always choose to simply do whatever you want and pay later, and magic can get creative when it presents you the bill. And if you're not even trying to do anything specific…

Eldritch fire ripped out from my extended hand, the flames of a myriad of unnatural colors washing over the surprised thug as he gave out a startled grunt. I saw… things moving inside the fire for the brief second it existed before it vanished. For a few moments everything was silent save for my heavy breathing, before I finally managed to pull myself up into a sitting position. I stared blankly at the placid furry face that looked back at me. "Ok… but why a capybara though?"

" _We don't know what this capybara is,_ " the Ring said slowly. " _but given how calm it seems, I would guess that the man he used to be was the very relaxed sort._ "

I shook my head and pulled myself to my feet, putting my hands on my hips as I looked down at the man-turn-South American rodent. Welp, I was going to have to find someone to fix this. I'm not sure the man deserved this. Also, not entirely sure turning a man into a capybara could be legally considered self-defense, so I probably wanted to fix this before the cops got involved. Not to mention whatever quasi-karmic debt I had just built up with that bit of magic. I was sure that the Ring had shielded e from the worst of it, but it was too strong a believer in 'learning from your mistakes' to take away all the consequences.

I was broken out of my musing when there a flash of green light around the corner of the truck, and one of the thugs came flying into view before crashing into a pile of garbage bags. The woman then walked around the corner, that faint green aura twisting around her like mist. "And dad said it used to be worse back in the day. Of course he also says that the Batman is the territorial sort. I'm surprised he's letting you patrol in his city."

It took me a second to realize she was talking to me. "I'm just visiting. I saw a woman potentially in danger and… well, I suppose you're a bit of an old hat at this."

She chuckled. "Anyway, the name's Jade. Thank for…" The woman trailed off as she finally turned to look at me, blinking owlishly as she took me in for the first time. "You… that… what is that color?"

Like I said, to most people, they would only see the black and white of my costume. But I had been using a lot of magic, and I was starting to remember just who this Jade was. She wasn't a proper wizard, but considering what her father wielded, she still had enough a connection that she could see the other color my uniform had. It was painted across my shoulders and the whole of my duster, and traced out the eight-sided lantern icon in the center of my chest. If I had to describe it, I suppose it was a sort of florescent, greenish, purple-yellow.

"Octarine." I said. The color of Magic. The Light Fantastic.

I was world's first and only Octarine Lantern.

And it was probably a bad idea.

=====IAL=====

A/N: Because everyone here has to do a Lantern fic _eventually_. Well, that or a Worm Alt-Power fic.

This whole thing came about when I asked myself what I would do if I were to write a Lantern fic. The first thing I asked myself was 'What Color?' and the first thing that popped into my head was Octarine. Then I realized I kinda liked the idea and rolled with it. I will admit that this is the last place out of all of my fic idea because, aside from the premise, I have no idea where I'd go with this. It would probably got to some really fantastical and meta places, considering whose notes I'd be cribbing off of.

We all miss you, Terry.


	7. Side Story: 12-X - Mask

=====A=====

It was just before dinnertime that I was finished with my latest creation, so I wandered over to the kitchen to find my roommates. Sure enough, I found Connor and M'gann setting the table, while Kori was placing down various food items. They all turned to me as I approached, and I stopped to dramatically place my hands on my hips.

"Everyone, behold!" I declared. A moment later, the surface of my lower half rippled as a dark material spread out across it. It took shape around my legs and a moment later the color and texture changed to blue denim. "I have pants!"

The group looked at me at me flatly for several long moments before M'gann spoke up. "Oh, umm... congratulations, I think. You managed to learn how to shape yourself into clothes?"

"Nope, this actually isn't 'me'. These are completely different nanomachines, which I made. You can think of them as the nanotech equivalent of your morphic garments." I had been working on and off on claytronics ever since I had met Serling, and now I finally had a working product. Sure it incredibly crude compared to what she could create, but as a first step it was surprisingly functional.

And a big part of why it worked so functionally was the finished complier. Though shifting through my nanites software architecture was a bit like wandering a maze with no idea where to go, I was constantly stumbling on useful little things. One such thing was how I learned to 'whitelist' certain technology so that my nanites didn't eat it automatically when placed inside my body. I could do that before if I actively focused on it, but it was next to impossible to prevent when I shapeshifted. Now though, I had a second set out nanomachines which I was free to tinker with and build from the ground up, complementing the ones my body was made out of. And these Mask nanites could interface and be controlled by me directly.

My outer surface rippled again, completing the outfit. A pair of sneakers for my feet, and a white tee with an open black over shirt for my torso. "At the moment, I'm limited to emulating a few types of materials," I said as I adjusted my cuffs. "And their cohesion isn't terribly strong, just barely matching leather at their toughest. But still, it'll be nice to have an outfit ready to go at any time."

Connor grunted. "Didn't know you cared about that. You seemed fine to always walk about house just 'wearing' tight shorts. And you're still going to stand out considering-" He cut himself off and winced a little, realizing that he might have stumbled onto a sore point.

I hesitated for a moment before I shrugged. "Well, they can go a bit farther…" I said, and my outer surface rippled again. This time, there was a sharp intake of breath from everyone present. "Jacob!" M'gann exclaimed. "You look normal!"

I frowned slightly, raising my hand in front of my face. "Normal is a bit of an odd thing around these parts," I muttered. My hand, along with the rest of me that wasn't covered by clothes, had changed to a creamy light tone. My hair was sandy blonde, and my eyes had a human sclera and pupils. "I'm still working on this, it's not quite right."

"What do you mean?" Kori asked. "You look like a normal human to me."

"He doesn't have veins," Connor remarked, his eyes narrowing as he looked closely. "The color of his skin is a little to smooth, and his heat map looks weird."

I nodded. Of course Connor would be able to see it. "It's probably fine, most normal humans won't be able to tell unless they look at me for a while. It's just bothers me because I can see it all the time."

M'gann smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry about it, you look fine. Have a seat, diner's almost ready."

M'gann and Connor walked back to the kitchen, but Kori approached me. "Is something wrong?" She asked, her brow furrowed a little as she looked me in the eyes. "It may not be as good as you want, but I thought you'd be happy by this progress."

"No, it's good. It's just…" I paused as I let my Mask nanites withdraw back into my body. "I don't think I care. About looking more human than I already do, I mean. I've already more or less gotten the physique I want, and I'm focused on getting all of my sensations back. By comparison, my coloration seems kind of minor. I… honestly, I've gotten kind of used to being grey. I'm not sure how to feel about that."

"Oh, that means you're happy with who you are!" She exclaimed. "That's a wonderful thing!"

I couldn't help but smile. Leave it to Koriand'r to see the bright side without fail. "Yeah, you're probably right. Still," I said as my grin turned sly. "That doesn't mean we can't have some fun with it…" I brought my Mask out again, and Kori's eyes widened in surprise. My skin had changed to a burnt orange shade close to hers and while my eyes were still the same blue, they had changed to the almost solid color that Tamaranians had. A loose loin cloth was around my lower half, and while it didn't have anything in it, a tool belt wrapped around my waist. "So, Torva'l huh?"

For the first time since I had known her, Kori actually blushed. Her cheeks turned a deeper shade of orange as she looked away. "Ah… to be fair, your appearance combined with the situation did have some remarkable similarities."

I chuckled and steeped in, pulling her close. "It's fine. I just find it amusing is all." My voice dropped a little as I continued. "Like I said, my coloration doesn't matter much to me. And it's not like Tamaranians are built that much different from humans. If you want… I can look like this when were together."

Kori looked me up and down as an odd smile slowly crept over her face. "Change back."

I blinked in confusion, but I did as she asked and her smile grew wider. "This is who you are, and what I want… is you, Jacob Morgan. Not you pretending to be someone else. I want the man I fell for."

In response, all I could do was helplessly smile and kiss her.

That's how our roommates found us when diner was finally ready.

=====A=====


	8. What if: Judgement 1-1

=====J=====

Bludhaven. A city grim and gritty as its stupid name implies. Imagine Gotham before Batman showed up, and you pretty much have the right idea. Sure, there are some differences (like a lack of gimp-suit wearing nut jobs with surprisingly good HR departments), but it's still terrible for the average person. And it was a city I had become unfortunately familiar with over the past few months.

It seemed like no matter how many times I tried to leave, I always got pulled back. And you learn things, when you're forced to live in the gutter of a city. Where to avoid, where you can scrounge for food… and where you can get certain services.

My motorcycle rolled to a stop in front of the building I was looking for, a non-descript apartment building by all appearances. Maybe a little rundown, but that hardly stood out in this neighborhood. You had to know where to look to notice the red, inverted triangle that was painted on part of the curb. I set my bike in park and dismounted, pausing as I looked up at the building. The early evening light framed the building in a sinister way, and not for the first time I wondered how my life had gotten to this point.

.

.

.

W̷͇̮̟͇̬̯ͤͬ̓͛́e̷̛̳̼̼̤̣̘̻̞̱̯̠̥͎͊͐́͒͆ͣ͒͌͌ͫ͟͠ ̊̔̐̒͑̍̏́͜͞͏͠҉̙̩̮̥̠a̵̧̛̲̘̖̳͍͖̘̲͈̰̱̜̙̗̯̰ͥ͑ͥ̽̿̾͊ͤ̀͝ļ̴̮͈̻̰̮͔̭̩̳̖͗̉̀ͬ̂̾l̾͑ͤ̂ͪ͒̉͂ͯ͂̇҉͏̖̥̭̲̩̗̯̮͖̩͕̟͔̥͓͕͠ ̧̰̹̱̙̬̟͍͇̾̏̔͗ͧ͊ͯ̂̓̽͐ͤ͛͗́ḩ̵̯̦͇̼̝͔̞̜̠̻͈̩̣̩̹̻̥̟ͪ͆ͤ̓ͪ͑̌̇͑́͒̈́̓̄̄͟͞a̬͕͉͉̱̫͎̖̲͙̗̤͖̺͚̣ͧ̅̽ͣͯ̃̑̇͊ͮ̎ͫ̑ͯ͌̽ͫ́͜ͅv̂̄ͧͪ́͐ͨ̈̑ͤ̈̀̏̋̏͋͢͏͔̤̜͕͇̼̱̲̫̺͢eͦ̉̅ͭͪ̃̓̌͐ͭ̎̾ͭ̓ͣ̉̔͐ͯ͏̛̜͔̥̥͇̠̟̳̖̦͇̯̩̀ ̸̅̍̂͒̎ͤ̿ͥ͏̶͏͕͇̞͙͇͖͎̮͉̝͖̘͍̕tͩ̌͛ͦ̅͛̄̽̓҉̴̷̢̖̫̩̖̮͍͓̫̻̯̙̖́ȯ̵͔̺̱͚̙͚̤̗̤̣͖̬͔̻͈̫̝͚̗̃̈́ͪ̇̿̅̔̆̏̚̚̕͝͝ ̒͑̄ͭ̅̚҉̷̧̢̺͔͇͕̝̯d̶̷̵̬̱̣̼̯͉͕̱̦̮̟̻̞͔̉̃̿ͨ̒͋̆ͤ̈́̉͗̈ͨͦ̎͒͜͞ȍ̉͋̉̆ͦ̏͊̌͐̑ͤ̉ͯ͒́̚҉̦̗͙̰̻͓̫͝ ̵ͩ́ͧ͂͐̅͌̌͗̏͂͗̒̃͊͏͏̡̤̬͖̹̳̱̬͍͙͜t̒͌̉̔̓̽ͩ̉̇͌̎͌͗̀͂̓̎̋ͥ҉̷͏̶̱̯̬͉̣̩͈̪̼̱͕ͅͅḥ̴̷̨͙̹̜͎̜̰ͨ́́ͥ͑͊̃́̚͘i̦̼̹͔̭̹͕͉͈͈̳̝̲̱͕͕̓̀̑̔̏́̕͞͡ş̨͙͇̳͓̮̼͔̻͍̜̟̬͖͔ͦ͒ͯ́̂̊̓̍ͥ̓ͬ̕ ̨͗̉ͫͫ̄̅̓ͪͯ̄̇̐ͤ̎ͫ͐͌̐҉͔̦͓͇̪̳͔͉̹̤̹̹̭̭̼̬s̴̶̷ͯ̓ͯ͊ͭ̈́̈҉̸͓̙͚̹͚̹̖̦̫̼͕̠̜̜͙͓o̢̒͂̃͐͊ͬ̆͗̏ͭ̎͗̊͘҉͓͙͇͚̞̻̥̰͖͎ͅȍ̸̶̝̘̻̥͉͆̐ͣ͑͑̃ͪͩ̅ͮ͂̉͐̀ͩ̔ͦ̕n̢̜̼̲̳̟̘̯̺̖̳͈͆ͬ̽͂ͣͯͨͣ̃̂́͠e̛̪̗̦͚̜͇̹̙̻̘͎̟̩͈͕͎͖̽̍̂̊ͣ̏ͥ̾́̀͢r̶̢̒͛ͦ͘͏̳̳̦̠͈͓͇̰̮̠̫̣ ͑̊̔ͤ̈̈́̌́̅̉ͩͬ͒̀́ͣͬ҉̷̢͈͇̱̤̘͔͖̩̺͠͝ͅo̸̵͊ͩͮ͂̔͑̀̿̏͌̀̎͋͗ͪ̌ͨ̓ͦ̕҉͎̟͎͎̯̻̮r͌̉̏ͪͮ̆͘҉̹̱̜͞ ̸̧̨̭͚̞̭͉ͤͦ͗͜l̡̛͑̂ͣͬ͂̂ͥ̏҉̷̡̟̟̝͍̩a̶̶̞̭̖͍̬̫̹̫̩̞̼̲̪̅̓̄ͩ͌́͟͞t͆̅ͥ̑̃̈̐ͣ̂̑̄̐̔ͯ̈ͮ̃̅ͩ҉̸̜̘̝̞̪͕̹̞̘̟̪̯͈̹̺̀͡͞e̛̩̳̯͔͈̱̭̟̳͖̟̱̋ͦͯ͐̋̓͌͌ͧͨ͗̏̅͠r̰͈͖̗͚̞̦͇̪̯ͮͬ̂̊̎̇͐̇̉ͮ͆̎̄̊̄ͫ͌ͥ͜͜

.

.

Yeah, yeah.

Pulling my duster in close, I walked up the steps and through the front door. The lobby was simple, a reception desk to my right and a hallway with several doors in front of me. The lady behind the desk, a middle aged woman with far too much make-up on, regarded my with a flat stare. "Can I help you, honey?"

I shuffled up to the counter, glancing behind me before I mumbled "Yeah, I uh… I'm here looking for a good time. Oh right, uh, 'Harvest Moon'."

She gave me a smile with pressed lips, and I saw her hand move to press a button under counter. I waited for a few moments before a man walked out from a door at the end of the hall, hustling over to me. He was a slightly portly man in a button up shirt, and he gave me a slimy grin as he approached. "Hey there, name's Aaron. Looking for some tail, huh?"

"Yeah," I said. "I've been driftin' for a while now. I need to unwind."

"Alright, alight," the man said, looking me up and down with a critical eye. "You got the cash for it? Cause we're a little more upscale than your average streetwalker."

I glanced left and right before reaching into my pocket and taking out a wad of bills. I gave the man a good look before I put them back in my pocket. "Now, can-"

"Hold up." Aaron said, his expression unchanged. "How'd you know about us?"

I rolled my eyes, not wanting to deal with this. "I've been in this city a lot, ok? I know who to ask for this sort of thing. You guys are new, but there's a lot of talk about the Crimson Syndicate. A lot of rumors." I hesitated, and shuffled my feet. "You, uh, you're not actually vampires, right?"

Aaron chuckled, his tension fading. "I wish. Just between you and me, I think the higher ups like those rumors. Keeps the competition on their toes."

"Right. Whatever, can I see the girls now? Where are they anyway, you keep them locked away at the top of the tower or something?"

"Nah, first and second floor." He waved me to follow him. "I'll get you the catalog."

"Hold up," I said, and he turned to look back at me. "You got any place… secure? I need a room that's private. A room where I know it's just me and her."

"Buddy, I don't know what you think-"

"Look," I interrupted. "I just… I'm sick of getting shit end of the stick all the time. I need to make someone else feel it. I need a space where I can do that. I… need _control_ , alright."

Aaron raised his eyebrows and stared at me for a long moment, before that slimy grin came back. "Ah, that's what you're lookin' for. Yeah, I think I can hook you up. Follow me."

I walked after him, and we walked past the door he had come from and down a side corridor. We came to an inconspicuous door that was made slightly less inconspicuous by the pair of large men standing guard near it. They were both in vests and suit pants, one with light hair and one with dark. Aaron leaned in close and whispered something into the blonde's ear, and the man nodded. The guard unlocked the door, and we all traveled down the staircase into darkness. As we walked, I glanced at the back of the goons necks, seeing the tattoos of the inverted triangle placed there.

Soon enough we reached another door at the bottom of the stairs, and our small group walked into a spacious basement. Almost the entire space was bare concrete, though there were some pieces of 'furniture' clearly meant for constraining people in specific positions. There were chains affixed to parts of the walls and floor, and I couldn't help but notice the slightly red drain in the floor.

I walked forward and passed the other men, taking stock of the contents of the room and my surroundings. "It's a bit big," I commented, my eye flickering towards thee one piece of furniture covered by a sheet before I turned back to Aaron. "You have parties in here?"

"For certain clients," Aaron said as he moved closer. His grin turned sadistic, and with an unhealthy interest he started to ask "So, let's get started on the _details-_ "

Suddenly, there was a series of loud crashes from above us, and it felt like the entire building shook just a little. Aaron looked up in confusion. "The hell?" he muttered before he looked at one of the guards. "Check that out."

The big man pulled out a walkie talkie and pressed the button. "What's going on up there?" A few moments of silence. No response, only static. "Hey Mick, you there?" Still static. He looked back at Aaron. "I don't think its working."

Aaron looked irate and made to yell something, but stopped when a new noise reached us: a cacophony of high pitched squeaks. A moment later a swarm of bats poured from a nearby vent, swirling around the room before the coalesced at a point in front of us. The black mass of their bodies fused together, and in an instant there was a man standing there. He was very pale, and he wore a formal suit that was a little behind the times. His dark hair had grey at the temples, and his sharp features gave him a severe look.

But his dead, crimson eyes were what drew the most attention. "Mr. Rodriguez," he said in a flat tone. "Did you order the closing of the emergency daylight blinds?"

"M-Mr. Williams," Aaron took a moment to compose himself. "No. I don't what's going on. We tried to contact the hub but-"

"Communications are down." The man finished for him. "The building is on lock down, but no one gave the order it, would seem." His gaze flickered to me. "Who is this?"

"A customer. A drifter." Aaron said, putting a particular emphasis on that last part.

The pale man stared at me for a moment longer before he looked back at the other man. "Handle it, then find out what's happening." With that, he transformed back into bats and exited the same way he came.

I stared at the vent, before flicking my eyes around to see if there were any other small entrances to the basement. "…I thought you said you didn't have any vampires."

"You know what, I'm not dealing with you right now."

The man was faster than I expected, and in a smooth motion drew a stubby revolver from his waist band and put two rounds into my torso. Burning pain laced my insides as I collapsed to my hands and knees, my blood dripping onto the ground.

Aaron sighed in irritation, gun dropping to his side as he address one of the goons. "Hook him up to the exsanginator and leave him, we need to find out what the hell is going on."

"Alright, but Jerry ain't here tonight. If we leave the machine on auto, the guys upstairs say the blood is-"

"I don't give a fuck." Aaron snapped. "We have bigger shit to deal with right now. If one of those monsters complains that his drink got sour, we'll blame it on the refrigerator."

A wheezing chuckle filled the dim basement, and the three men turned to look at me. "Monsters…" I muttered. "You say that like you aren't one of them."

"Oh what the fuck would you know, gutter trash?" Aaron shot back before he looked back at the dark haired man. "Seriously, get him in the damn machine already, I'm not wasting another bullet."

The goon moved towards me, but before he touched me I said "You killed a kid, once."

The man froze, his eyes going wide. "W-what?"

"You didn't mean to. Crossfire, I'm guessing." I continued to chuckle, slowly pulling myself to my feet.

The blood that was dripping from my chest was starting to steam.

I raised a hand and pointed at the other thug. "You take from the needy, when you feel like it. A callous indifference to the less fortunate. But, I guess while you might be bad guys, you're not really monsters."

A burning heat built in my chest, having nothing to do with the pain I felt.

Aaron's face twisted. "Am I supposed to be impressed by this little parlor trick? So what, everyone in this city has a little dirt under their fingernails. You probably just made a lucky guess."

My gaze locked onto his, my head tilting slightly. "You though, oh you're another story. You enjoy dominating others, the suffering they feel as they're helpless to stop you. These two might have fallen in with a bad crowd, but you couldn't throw yourself in fast enough. You're the real scum here."

Thin whips of steam started to pour from my body, and my skin felt dry and cracked.

I continued. "But more than that, you're a coward. It drives you, even when you're trying to assert control. It's why you joined up with big monsters, so they could protect you. It's why you watch the shadows, even as you push someone's face into the dirt." My voice lowered to a near whisper. "It's why you lock the door behind you when you go into your daughter's bedroom-"

Aaron emptied the rest of his revolver at me. I shook, but whether it was from the impacts of the dark laughter trying to work its way out of my throat. "Kill him! Kill him right the fuck now!" He screamed hysterically.

The goons hesitated for a moment, but the blonde one came at me first, charging and swinging a meaty fist at my head. My own hand came up and simply caught the first, the much larger man's momentum stopping dead. He didn't have long to be surprised before I stepped back and pulled, throwing him clear across the room to slam into the concrete wall.

At this point, my whole body had started to smoke, a whips of it leaking from my open mouth.

I turned back in time for the other man to smash a pipe across my face. He drew it back again for another strike, but he froze in shock as I turned my head to face him. The crowbar had caused my already weakened skin to crumble away, and half of my jaw bone was exposed to air. Flames and sparks poured around the bone, slowly eating away at the rest of my flesh.

My fist came up and smashed into his sternum with enough force to lift him off the ground and slam him into the basement's ceiling. He crashed back down the ground unmoving.

Aaron turned and ran, trying to make it to the door. In response I opened up my duster and pulled out the long length of chain.

Because some things were just tradition.

The chain lashed out and wrapped itself around Aaron's legs, causing him to pitch forward and slam onto his face. I dragged him back towards me and he flipped over to frantically free himself from the chains. And he became even more frantic as he saw my eyes burn to ash in my sockets, leaving a pair of burning hollow pits. It was actually quite painful to do it this slowly, but I was in something of a mood at the moment. And the sight of me burning up was having the desired effect.

"W-what are you?!" the man screamed as he reached my feet.

I grabbed him by the throat and hauled him up to eye level, the flames consuming the rest of my flesh. All the remained was my skull wreathed in a halo of fire, and the burning red points that stared into Aaron's terrified eyes. " **Something that fell off the wrong side of the Amalgam truck.** "

Power built within my skull, and I knew that the embers that were my eyes had turned into burning torrents. " **Aaron Rodriguez… Burn for your sins!** "

He screamed, flames pouring from his eyes in turn as he felt every last bit of pain and suffering he had ever inflicted on another person. He writhed in my grasp, trying to escape from both me and his self-caused torture, but failing to do either. After several long seconds he ran out of air and his thrashing stopped, his eyes no longer burning but vacant. I let him go, and he crumpled to the ground.

Everything was silent in the basement, save for the light sizzle coming from the body at my feet. I reached into one of my pockets and pulled out a radio, clipping it to my front. " **This is Bone Daddy. I'm in.** "

" _For the last goddamn time, I refuse to call you that._ " A female voice said on the other end.

" **You never let me have fun!** " I yelled back, trying to ignore the overwhelming feeling of catharsis and keep my tone upbeat. Still, I continued with " **Is everything locked down?** "

" _Yeah,_ " heard a pair of gunshots over the radio before she resumed talking. " _No getting in or out. You find a secure spot?_ "

I picked up one of the nearby 'tables' and hurled it at the vent in the far wall. It impacted with such force that it imbedded itself in the concrete, covering the opening completely. " **Yeah, the basement.** " I confirmed. " **Send every civilian you find down here.** "

She grunted. " _Out of the way, but it'll have to do. I'm on the top floor. I work my way down, you work your way up._ "

" **And we'll meet in the middle,** " I confirmed, walking out of the basement. When the woman at the front desk saw me round the corner, her jaw dropped open and she became very pale. I didn't break my stride, but as I walked past her I said " **Find every girl you can, get them into the basement now. Things are about to get violent.** " She didn't move a muscle, so I sighed and started doing it myself. I suppose she hadn't been expecting anything like this today.

Then again, I certainly hadn't been expecting anything like this, all those months ago. One moment I was walking onto the subway, the next I was walking out of an alleyway in a city I had thought was fictitious. I didn't have long to dwell on that though, because only ten minutes later I was shot in the crossfire of a sudden gang shootout. I lay there dying, begging the open air for someone to help me… and I got it, in exchange for vengeance to be paid. I had kinda been hoping for Superman, though.

And this was the DC universe, in spite of who I was playing host to. There was Metropolis, Gotham, the Justice League, all of that. But apparently, _something_ happened 13 years ago. Things just started appearing, things that never came from this universe. At the same time, things sometimes went missing from this universe as well, gone without a trace. People had all kinds of theories, called them Anomalies, but no one had any solid leads as to what the hell was happening,

But I did. Or at least, I suspected when I saw an image of Superman holding Captain America's shield on the news. Things were flowing between this universe and a Marvel universe. And given that the Spirit of Vengeance had vague memories of being bound to one Wally West, I could only assume that an Amalgam event took place. But, why were things still so muddled? And where the hell was Access?

After finally shepherding (or at least scaring them in the right direction) all of the people I could find on the first floor to the basement, I moved up the stairs to the second floor. I started to move to the nearest set of rooms, but the elevator at the end of the hall opened. Three men stepped out, two dressed in vests and slacks, and the third in a full suit. The last man was unnaturally pale, and unlike the other two he didn't flinch when he laid his red eyes on me. He swept his long dark hair back before he said "Kill him."

Had I eyebrows I would have raised one, and the goons who looked back at the speaker seemed to share my sentiment. The quick glare they got from him though showed they feared him more than me, as a moment later they charged me with drawn knives. Predictably, it didn't go well for them. I stepped forward and grabbed both of them when they got into range, hoisting them up and smashing them together. They crumpled to the floor.

I was suddenly rocked back by a series of heavy impacts. The man at the end of the hall had pulled out a pair of, if my eyes weren't deceiving me, .50 caliber pistols, and started unloading their entire magazines at me. His face was pulled in a sharp tooth grin as each bullet rocked me back a little. Eventually though, he ran out of ammo, and his eyes went wide as I stood straight. " **How cute,** " I said, reaching for the holstered machine pistol at my hip. " **Wanna see some real firepower?** "

I knew that Ghost Riders had a bunch of different powers, or at least different Ghost Riders had different powers. For me, my power set was on the shorter side. I had the Penance Stare, and I could sense the sins of the people around me. But the one thing I was really good at…

As I pulled the gun from the holster, hellfire crept over the weapon, and the metal of its frame became twisted and engraved with demonic markings. A spike extended from the base of the magazine, and the iron sights on the tip of the barrel curved into horns. The bullets I fired a moment later blazed through the air, imbued with the same Fires of Perdition. Each one that struck the vampire's body exploded in flames, and he was nearly torn to bits before he simply disintegrated.

Hellfire infusion. The same power that gave life to my Ride I could use to empower objects, weapons, anything. Basically, it's kind of like King Midas, except that everything I touch becomes metal as fuck.

I kept the pistol in one hand and my chains in the other as I stalked through the rest of the floor, again shepherding every prostitute I could find down towards the basement (and yes, that is the term I will continue to use). I had expected a bit more resistance by this point, but judging by the sounds of combat above me, my partner was currently drawing most of the attention.

I finished and hustled up to the third floor. There wouldn't be any more innocents from here on up, and sure enough the hallways and doors looked a lot starker. Kicking doors down proved that most of the apartments were empty as well.

My ability to sense the sin of people around me worked best when I had line of sight to the person, but I still had a general impression of it if someone with ample amounts of damnation was in close proximity. As such, I wasn't too surprised when a lithe form burst through the wall next to me, claws and fangs bared as she carried me through the opposite wall. Instinctively, hellfire surged through my longcoat, and I heard the vampire's flesh sizzle. I head a scream and by the time I hit the floor the vampire was gone.

I knew I hadn't managed to disintegrate the thing, so I grumbled and pulled myself to my feet. Sensing the source of sin moving around me, I carefully move back into the hall, gun and chain ready. " **Hey, you got any tips for fighting vampires?** " I asked over the radio.

" _I don't know, shoot them until their paste_." She replied. " _Haven't you been at this longer than me?_ "

"… **Not really. This whole gig is kind of new to me**." I sensed a second source of sin approaching rapidly from my left, so I lashed my gun hand out and fired of a few shots through the wall. I heard a hiss, but I felt the vampire change direction.

" _Really? Huh, I just kind of assumed you were always a burning skeleton man._ "

" **Well, I wasn't.** " I came to T junction in the hallway. I looked to my left, purposely not looking at the vampire clinging to the ceiling up and to the right of me. The moment she launched herself at me, my hellfire infused chains swung at her, wrapping tight around her body and slamming her into the floor. " **Were you always…** " I trailed off as I tried to think of what to say.

" _Amazing? Competent? Deadly? Pretty much._ " An explosion sounded over the radio, and I felt the building rumble slightly. There was a long moment of silence before she spoke again. " _The monster hunting thing…. That's new. I woke up one morning with a bloody rock on my night stand I have no idea about, and suddenly able to sense monsters in a five mile radius. I wasn't planning to do anything about it, but it's fucking impossible to get some sleep with these bloodsuckers around._ "

I was a little surprised at her opening up now of all times. Then again, our relationship had always been an odd thing. I first met her shortly after I became Ghost Rider, the two of us running into one another as we both went after the same coven of Witches. Originally it had been an alliance of convenience, before it just became an alliance. And at some point, it became something convenient.

The vampire wrapped in chains screamed as hellfire burned into her. The second one chose this moment to burst into the hall from the opposite direction and rush me down, trying to save his companion. I tightened my grip on the chain and pulled, swing around the restrained vampire like a flail into the charging vampire. There was a burst of hellfire on impact and both disintegrated.

Ok, third floor done. I looked at the ceiling above me, feeling the sin of the thing moving one floor up. I hesitated for a moment, and when it was almost right above me I poured hellfire into my chain and lanced it straight up through the ceiling. I felt the end wrap around something and pulled, and I was rewarded by a pair of legs crashing through the ceiling to dangle in the air.

Had I the lips for it, I would have frowned. " **Get over here!** " I roared and pulled again, bringing the vampire all the way through and smashing him into the floor with a sickening crash. I walked over to him as he tried to pull himself to himself to his hands and knees. Hellfire played over my boots, turning them into vicious footwear of black leather and pointed metal before it came down on his head. There was a burst of flame at the moment of impact and his body disintegrated.

I briefly wondered if all vampires did that on death or it had something to do with my own powers before I looked up at the hole I had made in the ceiling. I jumped up through it, my machine pistol firing at the vampires who had hung around the hole to see what the hell was going on. I didn't hit all of them, but two went down and the other two reeled back in shock from the sight of me. They didn't last much longer, and my burning chain lashed out and burned them to ashes a moment later.

The fourth floor was much like the previous ones except that at the end of the hall I saw a pair of nice double doors. I remembered from planning this assault out with my partner that the biggest space in the building was a corner office on this floor. And if I knew her capabilities, she was either already there or about to be there soon. Not wanting to be late and look like a chump in front of her, I hustled down the hall and simply shoulder checked my way through.

The room… wasn't what I was expecting, at least for being in a low end apartment building. It was large room, tall enough to take up two floors and was something between an antechamber and a rec-room. The wall on my left was lined with windows, though there were all blocked by dark metal shutters. A set of spiraling stairs lead up to a small balcony on the opposite side of the room from where I entered, and I saw another set of doors just past it.

I took three steps into the antechamber before security shutters slammed down over the door at both ends of the room. The lights cut out and plunged the rom into darkness. Well, not really, as I was still a burning torch of a man. And it's not like darkness was a problem for me either way. " **Really?** " I asked as I looked up at the balcony above. " **Do you really think I'm bothered by the dark?** "

Though the space had been empty a moment before, standing on the balcony was the vampire I had seen in the basement. He looked at me dispassionately before giving a slight shrug of his shoulders. "Perhaps not, but I find it comforting." He drew a wicked looking knife from his side… before he looked between it and me with a frown. "I had heard rumors, but I hadn't actually thought you were real." He said, tossing the knife and taking out what looked like a metal tonfa.

" **I'm not big on advertising,** " I replied, unwinding my chain from my arm. " **Tends to make my job easier when they don't know to run away**." I brought my weapons up. " **Saves me the trouble of running them down.** "

Williams hummed and leaned forward. "Well then… let's see who runs faster."

In a blur, he was gone, and the next thing I knew I felt him right behind me. I turned to lash out with my chain, but he was already smashing the tonfa into my back. I stumbled as I turned, and Williams moved with me, striking across my face. I allowed myself to be thrown back, hitting the ground and rolling back onto my feet. I raised my machine pistol and fired back at him.

Again, Williams was a blur as he weaved between the burning bullets. He closed the distance in an instant and smashed the pistol out of my hand, the weapon losing its luster as it flew into the darkness. The vampire wasted no time in raining a series of blows down onto me. I tried to block his strikes, but he suddenly went low and swept my legs out from under me. Williams was pure speed as I hung in the air, fast enough to stand back up and axe kick me with sufficient force to crater the floor.

 _Celerity. Damn it_ , I thought. While on my back I saw the vampire leap into the air, no doubt intending to smash me even further into the floor. Guess I had to step things up a bit.

I felt hellfire burn within me, and my chain blazed to life. It spiraled around me as I moved into a spinning kip up, which then launched me upwards into a spinning cannon spike at the descending vampire, much to his surprise. He twisted awkwardly in the air, so that when I impacted him he was sent spiraling off to the side. We both landed, and Williams managed to tear off his burning suit jacket just before I rushed him down. He jumped back out of the way as my chain tore through the space he just was, and was forced to keep moving back as I kept the pressure up. I may not have been quite as fast as him, but he was certainly surprised that I had started to keep up with his speed.

It wasn't clear how much, but Zarathos _remembered_. He remember what it was like to be Speed Demon. And the memory of a Spirit of Vengeance was enough to make me a lot more agile than I rightfully should have been. It was hard as hell to control though, and I had to take care with every move I made to not fling myself across the room.

Gouges and flames tore up the room as we threw ourselves at each other, each of us trying to maneuver into an advantageous position. I repeatedly tried to ensnare him in my chains and anchor him, but even at my fastest I couldn't quite pin him down. Likewise, Williams kept darting in and hitting me with glancing blows, but he couldn't wear me down. It would take more than a mundane piece of metal to damage a Ghost Rider, after all. I was pretty sure that I would outlast him eventually, but I had no idea how long that would take, and the longer this went on the more likely he would get creative. So, I decided to get creative first.

My chain blazed with flame as I spun it in a wide circle, moving across the room in a sweeping motion. Williams was able to step back out of the way, but my goal was to stop him from seeing what I was doing. As I spun, I reached into my long coat and tossed out a dozen short metal cylinders, scattering them in a radius around me. I came to a stop in the middle of the room, reeling my chain back in and settling into a deep stance. My gaze locked with Williams, and for a long moment neither of us moved. Eventually, his patience broke, and came at me in a burst of speed.

Hellfire poured through my feet spreading outward in a low ring around me. Williams charged in regardless, clearly feeling that he could power through it to get to me. And he could… because he wasn't my target. As the hellfire spread through the floor, it reached the cylinders I had thrown all over the ground, shifting them so that they pointed at my approaching enemy. With an effort of will, the collapsible pikes released, hellfire turning them into serrated spears as they lanced into William's body.

He only got to scream for a moment before fire consumed him and the vampire was gone. I let out a breath and straightened. " **And another one bites the dust.** " I felt a slight rumble of dissatisfaction within me, and I scoffed. " **Shut up, I make good one liners.** "

I then hustled up the stairs to the main office and entered, and I wasn't entirely surprised by what I saw. The office had a hole in the roof, and a headless body slumped over a massive mahogany desk. The head was close to my feet, and I recognized it as our primary target for this outing, the vampire in charge of the Crimson Syndicate (I guess the disintegration thing was because of hellfire).

I looked towards the one responsible, who was current sitting slouched on the desk. She was dressed in a black longcoat covering an orange body suit, a number of utility pouches around her waist and across her chest. The black thigh-highs may have seemed a bit much, but they did match with the choker holding a blood red stone at her neck. Her white hair was held back in ponytail, and her left eye was covered by an eye patch.

Shotgun slung over her shoulder, Rose 'Bloodstone' Wilson glared at me with her visible eye. "You're late, chump."

Ah hell.

=====J=====

A/N: Yeah... not entirely sure where this came from. I think it's because while I like the DC universe better than Marvel, I still like a lot of stuff from the latter. So here's Ghost Rider hanging out with Ravager, except she's also Elsa Bloodstone from Nextwave. The story would likely be a love letter to all of the terrible and awesome stuff from the Dark Age of comics.


	9. Non-Canon: Just Some Guy

This was an idea I had for an arc a long time ago, but as the story progressed, it never evolved beyond being more than an idea. And now it doesn't fit with anything I have planned. Still, I'm fond of the last scene I had in mind, so here it is for all of you.

=====A=====

You'd think that abandoned warehouses in the Gotham docks would be the first place people would check when there's villainous behavior afoot, but to be fair I've been busy. All of the interdimensional portals that had been opening up across the world had finally stopped, and all of the invaders that had come out of them had been put down. Not that we had to do anything more than wait; the insectile things had come out of the portals malformed. Analysis of their corpses revealed that their internals were twisted and failing as well, and they probably would have died in a few days of getting here.

And I suspected that I was about to meet the reason why.

I snuck around to the back entrance of the warehouse, looking about to see if anyone was watching. I knew it was foolish for me to come alone, but I had an idea of what I was about to find. And if I was right, it was going to be a bit… personal. Slipping in through the door, I was greeted by the sight of a run down warehouse with a couple of crates scattered about the place. And floating in the center of it all was the mystery that had been puzzling my team and the League for the past few days.

The man was covered in black 'armor', though really he seemed more like a hole in the world. I could more easily make out the shifting, sharp edges of his profile than any details of his person. He was of average height, with broader than average shoulders. The only detail that marred the blackness was a white scar where the right eyebrow would be on his head.

Wherever the portals had opened up, this man had been there. Killing the invaders and closing gateways before disappearing. He didn't speak, barely even acknowledged the rest of us were there. He completely no-sold any attempts to stop him too, simply countering attacks by warping reality around him. He didn't even show up on sensors, instead either being invisible or just a hole in perception.

Even as I came to a stop a short distance away from him, he didn't say anything. I think he was looking at me (it was hard to tell), but either way it was clear he was waiting for me. So, I said "I'm kinda embarrassed how long it took me to figure it out."

He didn't respond, but I saw the scar arch upwards slightly. I started to pace as I talked. "You don't leave any direct trace that I can scan, but I did notice there was a faint atemproal flux everywhere we confirmed you visited. Which got me thinking about how that little mark," I touched my right eyebrow. "Was a bit familiar. But what confirmed it for me, was that bit of evidence you left behind at the last portal."

I didn't have said evidence on me, so I walked over to one of the crates and opened it up, looking down at the box full of similar evidence. Reaching I pulled out the product of the same discontinued brand that had allowed me to track down this warehouse: a lampshade. I gave the man a look. "It's a bit on the nose." I remarked before tossing it aside. "So, with all that out of the way, one question comes to mind."

I looked up and my voice softened as I asked "What happened?"

After a pause the man finally moved, drifting down to set foot on the ground in front of me. He remained motionless for a second before he… flickered. The black surface disappeared, and I was greeted by my own face looking back at me with a tired expression. "What do you think?" He grumbled.

Although my sensors now worked and I could detect the nanomachines that made up my/his body, he retained his more average build, and his skin was human toned (wearing modern clothes too). I could even see the scar hidden in the right eyebrow, the one I had gotten when I was two. His appearance was pure affectation of course, but why he chose to look like how I used to before I became posthuman was the least of my concerns. I took a breath before I asked "How much did we lose?"

"Everything." He replied, taking a step back and looking off to the side. "Never got the name of the bugs, but the first time around there were a _lot_ more portals. A few hundred or so for the initial wave, scattered all over the world. It didn't matter how many we killed, more just kept coming. When the larger portals opened up and the terraformer leviathans came through..."

He trailed off, taking a seat on a nearby crate. "It happened so fast. Pretty much every government had collapsed in a week, eighty percent of the population dead. The League was killed during that week. The team-" he stopped and started again. "The team lasted a little longer."

"...I'm sorry." I said. I didn't really want to ask, but I had to. "How did they go?"

"Like goddamn heroes." He said, a bitter smile crossing his face. "We had to hold the line while the Green Lantern Corp evacuated what was left of the population. I tried to convince them to let me do it all myself and for them to escape. Naturally, they wouldn't stand for it." The smile faded. "I wish I had been more insistent."

"I think we both know they would have considered the price worth it."

His eyes snapped up to mine, and I _felt_ the fury and pain behind the glare. Fast as it came it was gone though, and he just sighed. "It doesn't matter now. For the past few days I've been setting up Bleed Harmonic Scramblers all around the world. Any of the portals that didn't fail outright were so miscalibrated that anyone going through them would be scrambled down to the molecule. And if I did it right, the bugs will think this is a result of natural fields here on Earth, discouraging further attempts."

My mouth twisted a little. "And you're sure about that?"

He shrugged."As much as I can be. You'll be getting the specs to those scrambles in the event that I'm wrong. By the way, you and the League are going to be getting some emails and packages. The attachments will have all the information I know about the bugs and any future events, but I don't have much on the latter that will be useful. What with the loss of Earth and all."

"Not planning on sticking around to actually tell us about it?"

A mirthless laugh was the response before he said "Time travel is an _awful_ idea. Don't do it if you can help it. If you can't… well, you need to make sure you do it right and _actually_ change the past. Which is tricky, seeing how every method of time travel has different rules to it."

He leaned back and gestured. "Bleed Temporal Tunneling runs on multiverse theory, and I don't care to leave orphaned timelines in my wake. Dimensional Folding creates stable time loops where you can't change anything, so no help there. You can stretch things a bit, the universe has a sort of ontological inertia that 'corrects' itself. Speed Force… no. Just no."

He shook his head and refocused. "Now, a Temporal Manifold Singularity is better in that you can change things, but the changes propagate forward instantly. And if you do something that stops you from going back in time in the first place, which could just be breathing air in the wrong place and time due to butterflies, you'll instantly cease to exist along with the timeline that made you. So, you might be able to make one change, and I couldn't rely on that. But, if you make a Paradox Engine..."

His chest opened up and I stared into… something. It was an endless red vortex folding in on itself. It was a cube with edges twisting in impossible angles. It was a living mathematical formula that embodied the infinite undefined limit that was division by zero. It was-

My mind broke out of the loop it had found itself in when he closed his chest up and continued. "...you can stick around long enough to actually accomplish something. It's not like I can go back; the place I came from doesn't exist anymore."

I shook my head to clear out the mental segmentation faults before replying "Fair enough, but why can't you just stick around here for a bit? I understand if you don't… want to permanently stay here, but with that engine in your chest-"

"That isn't a solution." He cut me off. "It is just kicking causality down the road. With all the changes I've made, it takes exponentially more energy to maintain the Paradox Engine the longer I'm here. When the cost is more than I can make… I'll cease to exist."

"Ah." I said flatly. "How long do you have left?"

"As of this moment? About 63 seconds." he said, his tone one of annoyance of all things.. "To be honest, you're timing could use some work. I had given up on you figuring out the clues and was all set to head into oblivion alone until a few minutes ago. Now all we have time for is overly brief explanations and an awkward silence."

My mouth opened and closed. He was right, of course. Anything really important would probably be in the data he sent the League, and what meaningful thing could we discuss in a minute? After a few seconds of thought, I started to ask "If you have any message to want to pass on to the team-"

"No." It came out sharp, and his teeth grit a little. "They're your team. Not mine. I can't think of them like that. I can't… think of her like that. I can't..."

He trailed off. There was a long moment of silence between us, before I quietly asked "And what about me? Anything you want to say to yourself?"

He stopped, looking at me in surprise. He remained frozen for the longest moment before a hysterical giggle forced its way from his throat. His composure fell apart and he hunched forward, holding his head in his hands as his shoulders shook. "I was just _some guy_." He exclaimed, his voice hitching.. "I was some programmer who wrote shitty fanfiction on the side… and suddenly I had superpowers and a team to look after. Why? Why the hell did that happen? Why did anyone trust me with that responsibility? What kind of sick joke was it to make me live through this?"

He raked a hand through his hair. "But… I met someone who believed in me. Who came to respect me. Who came to… love me. And the team I was responsible for became my family. And I started to believe I was that hero they thought I was. And maybe I was. But it wasn't enough. I couldn't save the world. I couldn't save them. I couldn't save her. Then I had a choice. I could learn to accept the pain and loss, and move on like just some guy. Or I could erase an entire timeline from existence, and myself along with it, because I couldn't imagine being without her."

He looked back up at me, tears in his eyes. "What else was I supposed to do?"

I didn't have an answer for him. The warehouse was silent for another 27 seconds before the man disappeared, like he had never existed at all.

=====A=====


End file.
